Inventor
by megamanfreakinx
Summary: The journey is not over, it is just beginning. The tragedy of loosing a loved one is great on everyone's heart. They all must find themselves and their place in the galaxy. While doing so they will face demons of old, and accept what they did, or die. Picture by Archie Comic Publications. Sonic X, Sonic, Cosmo, Tails, Cream Book 1 of The Auspice Sequence
1. Prologue

**Inventor (All Rights Reserved) New and Improved!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic characters or Sonic X, they are all owned by SEGA.**

**Version (#5)**

**To my Journey, that I may yet pass.**

**Prologue**

Blacker than I am tenebrous, no room to breathe or speak. But plenty of room to feel. Plenty of flavor. Deep space was merciless unto those whom were cumbersome. But it was unnecessarily forgiving to these adventurers. Adventurers? Hardly. They were mere tools. And you, Inventor, the blade of my arm, will pay in kind. For what you did to mine, I will do to yours.

The Blue Typhoon was a brobdingnagian, blue and white battleship designed for faster-than-light space ship was around 900 feet long and about 400 feet wide. If the ship was faced left and we were looking at it directly from the side, starting from its cylindrical-coned yellow tip, next the forward bulkhead, adjacent to, was the fuselage and mostly all of the crew's supplies. Next to, on the bottom of the yellow tip, was a downward-vertical stabilizer that extended at a 210 degree angle from the inner ship to ¾ of the yellow tip's length. Near the midsection of the ship(from left to right(around 400 ft. in)) was a relatively thin panel connecting an even thinner wing, plated with an aluminum skinned structured that was honeycomb plated, shaped on the inside - an adopted shape and idea from another adventure Tails had had. On the wing on the right was a slat and next to that was a flap, and to the right of that was an aileron.

Next to the panel away from the wing was a reverse thruster - mind you this is still at the bottom of the ship. The reverse thrusters in essence could be used for one-way attitude control but it was mostly only for one-way horizontal stabilization. Tails' wasn't fond of using his patented three-way method, inasmuch as it would burn out the thrusters since they could not move up or down. But Tails was creative. He had to be, many a times.

On top of the yellow tip were three spikes extending outwards pointing the same way the yellow tip was located Since the ship was symmetrical, where the spikes rose was a runway, and there, were two large incandescent light bulbs, with a cyan covering. Straight beyond that/next to the runway were four pairs of trees lined up in perfect synchronicity. The runway was gray and extended 300 feet long, where it made birth was in a hangar elevator that reached all the way to the bottom. You could find many planes and other miscellaneous vehicles there.

I've almost had every part of this ship memorized. I take that back from before. Nothing is more tenebrous than I.

The elevator roof, being 50 feet long, had a cabin of its own, traditionally the cabin was farther in, so this was more of a tertiary cabin. It had two wings of sorts on its sides. Adjacent, the ship had a purple and white thin body, which was the cargo bay. Part of the cargo bay was a reactor. It was yellow on the outside and it spun whenever the ship needed to extract and release needed and excess energy from the Master Emerald.

The Master Emerald was a tricky piece of rock. To contain it although, was not hard. Knuckles took care of that, being the Guardian. Half of Tail's work was done. The other half took an immense amount of preparations. For the Sonic Power Cannon to take so much and yet so little energy from the Master Emerald, the emerald itself had to undergo massive amounts of stress and decay. Tails had installed it to the reactor core. The emerald went through a contemporaneous reaction of nuclear fission and fusion. It released its energy giving the ship what it needed and that included the cannon. Then made its own energy.

The Green rock was a confusing element as well. Tails had not managed to cross reference it to anywhere they had traveled, its origin was still unknown. But he was finally getting somewhere with it. The fox discovered that every time he took a chip off of the emerald-with Knuckle's permission of course- the emerald would regenerate. He applied this to a concept which he called Perfect Autarky. He was in the middle of finishing blueprints for it, but he could not keep his excitement in and began working on it - the ability to produce self-sustainable fuel.

Tails made the aft bulkhead an almost 300 foot-long structure. It was supposed to be where the rudders were, and it took Tails three whole months to build. For Tails, even that was slow. He pondered on whether he should feed the ion thrusters and engines with a xenon propellant(or something like unto it). Unfortunately the xenon ran out too quickly and had to be replaced periodically. The Ion propulsions had to be charged by plasma. But the same problem occurred to him, he had the most difficulty with sustaining and self-replicating his own fuel, since their travels in space would be prolonged. And he was right.

The rest of the ship, simply put, there were two torpedo-like thrusters and a secondary bridge which lead to the primary bridge.

Tail's Towering Trophy was made a mess. It was struck into, beat, and as a result some parts of the ship had lost pressure and had made it dangerous to access. Chunks of space-ship were strewn around the Typhoon, some of it hurtling away and towards a deepening dark planet lightly encompassed by white roots.

Don't do it! Please.

Why don't we call it… poetic justice?

The roots belonged to a young Seedrian. A tender, plant-like girl with a courageous heart. The Great beings would sing songs of praise to this wonder, the little girl had saved all plant and animal life in the galaxy.

Fitting, yet unfulfilling.

Her tears had drooped down into nothingness, and would be forgotten. They would, in time, find their way home. The yellow, two-tailed fox would not notice, he was occupied with the matter at hand, and the actions he and his companions had made.

If you allow this to happen we will all die.

Two golden, radiating lights stood by, two and a half miles away. They looked at each other, the situation was about to get worse.

Destroy it!

Everyone was in awe. Some were disgusted at first but knew it had to be done. Tails was gasping for air, he could not breathe, and his sight was failing him. His tender, yellow body would not respond to the commands of his mind, all he could do was stare out into the calamity that he had calmed, and the cataclysm that would come.

Can you not see? He is too blinded by his own hubris to see or even hear you.

Tails was on the cold floor of the primary bridge, the room was a light leper-yellow, and it began to gleam.

Inventor, you no longer have to sacrifice for those you love. You have killed her in cold blood and you cannot even see her next to you. You will kill her again.

Tails laid his head on the floor, his face pointed at the ceiling. All he saw at this point was blood in his eyes, blood that literally covered around his pupil, and figuratively smeared his hands. He saw her now, she started from the ceiling, more beautiful than ever. The green girl seemed gargantuan now, she got closer. What did you do to deserve this? I'm so sorry. I.. I.. lo-

Tails do not worry, it will soon be your time. And you will join her.

What? Tails was frightened at these words, the being turned black, its eyes were green and bloody, spikes grew from every appendage. The being shot out at him with all of its might.

"Ahhh!"

* * *

**Section I**

What is she up to? Cunning devil tricked us all. She mustn't get away, this time.

"Why must we bicker? This insufferable argument has gone on long enough!"

"We bicker because we must. For the good of all realities."

The Council of Reality had commenced, many beings from other galaxies had come to protect all whom existed. To the mortal eye it would appear that this realm was showered with white, but it mostly appeared blue. There were towers and great pillars extending to beyond reach of normal hands. It also seemed as if these edifices floated on top of clouds, the heavens, was a name referred to this place of beauty. And in the center was a very tall and spacious building, it resembled a court room of old ages, with steps leading up to it, and numerous pillars in the front. Two gigantic marble doors were currently closed to the more common beings. Some of these beings were of exalted nature, very god like in presence. The beings glowed in every place they were found. All of them had robes of silk and shiny jewelry on them, and on their heads. The council had spent many cycles deciding, plotting and planning.

The courtroom was split into four parts, the one that was being used was the actual court. It was boxed in and sound proof. In the center there was a circular step-down, and leading up to the radius was a step-up so that whomever would speak would stand and walk up there. Around the circumference was a lined row of many marble chairs stuck to the ground. On one wall were seven raised up thrones, full of all precious metals, and gems, on them sat the great beings, the High Ones.

"Can you not see that there is an evil out there returning? Its agents are growing in power as we argue. Taking action now would be best, take them by surprise."

A sharp voice was heard from a few feet away, "If I may interject."

"The Council recognizes Filanthro̱pía the Charitable.(Charity)."

Filanthro̱pía smiled, and started, "Knowing empirically about what's really out there, would it not be best to reason with the creature? Or at least know what its true intentions are?" She stopped. "I have been suspecting for some time that this creature is of ancient origin, as ancient as you High Ones. Would it not have equal power?" She paused, "Not necessarily. However, we are still outmatched."

"What are you getting at?"

Filanthro̱pía resumed, "We are all familiar with the Augury. Yes? I believe the creature is after," she paused again, "the chosen. It's more than safe to say that actually." Now, I'm not convinced they can stop the creature, but if we were to distract the creature, make it think it has won, that is when we must strike!"

"You are no tactician! Regardless, are you saying we should destroy our very creations? This is unorthodox!"

Filanthro̱pía was not amused, "tactician, noun, someone who has specific means of accomplishing goals. Son of the High Father, I recall the "tactician" not being present with us any longer." There was a sudden jump from the entirety of the council, she had hit a nerve. But even that would not stop her, "Unorthodox, adjective, contrary to what is the norm. Enlightened Ones, we have massacred our creations since The Great Emergence.

Filanthro̱pía continued with her thought, "High One, I'm proposing we save all of existence! You of all beings should know," she paused once more for effect,"with of course, a modicum of respect and sympathy, that that evil can betwixt any soul," another pause, "even one as high as you."

There were murmurs in the courtroom. Some of the Great Ones looked away, others looked down, hopeless and downtrodden, only the High Father looked back, "Then Sofería, whom must we send?" He directed himself to another in the court.

"The Council recognizes Sofería the Wise (Wisdom)."

"High Ones… what Filanthro̱pía states makes sense, and she has merit, however, we mustn't act so rashly," he pushed his fur out of his eyes.

Another raised a tentacle.

"The council recognizes Gnó̱si̱ the Understanding(Knowledge.")

"I second Wisdom's comment, and I rebuttal with an example." He faced one in the council. "Old One, your planet is fragile, and yet every piece is important, how would your people react to this?"

A dark-colored human raised his hand.

"The Council recognizes Imperious the Skillful(Experience)."

"You were smart to pick me in your rebuttal Knowledge, I have been in many battles, and no one knows as better as I that every piece counts on the battlefield. Yes I agree with you, and yes these are our children, but we are their protectors, the leaders of all. As such, we must protect them as a whole, even if it means sacrificing a few for the betterment of existence."

"Gnó̱si̱ was no friend of Imperious, there was a mutual hate there where none should be. Back and forth, Gnó̱si̱ started,"This goes against everything we are."

"We let trillions die every cycle."

Gnó̱si̱ was getting impatient,"Some of these are my children!"

"Accidental children." The Old One remarked.

"Enough! The Council returns its attention to Sofería."

Sofería Hesitated, he did not want to give a wrong answer. "I… Ideally, Mercy, the creature will not suspect it, it will think we have gone mad."

"But truly this is madness! Send our most righteous?!"

Another High One raised his hand. "Mercy, share with us your thoughts on the matter."

"The Council recognizes The Compassionate."

"Please, do not flatter me. Our noblest one is lost to us. I, I… I need some time."


	2. Chapter 1: Crack of Dawn, Crack of Time

**Part 1**

**The Journey**

**Chapter 1**

**Crack of Dawn, Crack of Time**

**Present Time**

Remember...Tails. Here beside you. Sick nightmare. Seeds of my clan. What have I done? Here Tails, I'm sorry.

"Everyone stop!" The clandestine room echoed. The room was a 24x24 room, littered with documents, blueprints, and stray clothing. Tails' room was usually messy, but it had been for a few weeks. His mind rushed with thoughts and emotions he could not get rid of easily. The boy sat on his bed, blanket in hand, covering most of his body. He had had enough of this. "Why? Why can't you just leave me alone?!" The question was all he could ask. Obviously the room gave him no answer, but it did give him the creeps to wake up suddenly to an unlit, misshapen sty.

Tails had a sock on his lap, he threw it with the rest of the clutter and stared at it. "How long has it been?" In all honesty the fox did not want to think of how long he was there, but now that the storm had calmed and he had grieved a little, he thought of his friends.

"What did I do?" Tails was embarrassed. He did not want them to see him. He would still stay covert, he didn't even want to think.

I'm at peace...Goodbye.

"Damn you!" Tails felt his body shake, he had never sworn before. He regretted the moment the words grazed his lips. His large ears twitched, the yellow fur on his back raised. "What is wrong with me?"

"Tails?" A harsh voice came from out of nowhere. Tails response was a shriek followed by an ululated cry. "I'm going nuts, I have to get out of here." Again the room gave no response, but Tails was adamant on leaving, as he did he never looked back at the clutter.

The Blue Typhoon walls had been untouched until three weeks ago. Their once glowing whites and blues were painted with smears of black. The monster Dark Oak really did a number on the now fragile Typhoon. The group had managed to clog up all but one pressure-less hallway and a few rooms. But all in all the ship held up nicely. Tails wondered if it was operational yet. He walked fast, he did not want anyone to notice him, and yet he had to know how his baby was doing, the Typhoon needed to move some time.

Tails knew that Chris would be the one to manage the logistics in handling and caring of the ship, Tails did not doubt Chris' ability to fix and start the ship, but it still was Tails' ship, and evidently this gave him rights. He also wondered how his friends were, although he would not bother them. Tails' mind was beset on getting home and maybe living as a hermit the rest of his life. Of course this seemed comical to Tails, and yet he considered it. The life as a lonesome fox wouldn't be so bad. He wouldn't have to share anything with anyone, be alone… for the rest of his life…

"Hey Tails."

"Ahh!" Tails jumped to see a blue hedgehog leaning against a hidden indent in the wall. Tails looked away when he realized who it was. Since it took him by surprise he answered with a, "H-hey." even though the last person he wanted to talk to was Sonic. Tails walked on and did not look back at Sonic.

"Tails…" Sonic sighed sorrowfully.

What is his problem scaring me like that! I ought to hit him too! Tails also regretted thinking that, but kept feeding the thought. I'll show him! This is all his fault, I hope he… Tails' heart ached savagely. The yellow fox speed walked away from Sonic, but he saw him walking alongside him, effortlessly.

"Tails," Sonic continued, "I'm here for you pal." They both continued towards the reactor, not saying much.

Why can't he just leave me alone? Why did it have to be her? Why… could it not just be me…? Tails' perception of Death had been transmuted by something dark-an unknown apparition. And it did not help that the Typhoon's heating system was failing. Tails felt awkward about the Fate that had been forced upon the travelers. He kept telling himself that passing away was just normal to him, he even "realized" that he was unsympathetic towards it.

"Tails stop." The blue hedgehog got impatient. "Please talk to me. I'm worried about you-"

"No Sonic you stop!" Tails interjected. "I've said what I need to say!" A shove came Sonic's way. Even the speedy hedgehog reacted too late and was physically taken aback. Sonic's green eyes turned stern, but softened quickly.

Tails made his way to the core reactor part of the ship. A prodigious 25,000 tons of weight were focused just to power the ship. Massive as it was, the occasion called for it. In the middle of the grand section was the reactor. The pressure vessel, turbine and reactor were all placed on top of each other, (vessel at the bottom). There were a series of pipes under the floor, many leading outside the ship to release the excess energy and smoke into space. Three of those pipes were worth accounting for, the pump, the cooler and the extractor. The pump and cooler helped get rid of all the objectionable material from the reactor, and the extractor, just like its name, pulled the energy that could be used later, and was put in storage all the way to the front of the ship.

Last and never least, was the source of all the power, the Master Emerald. How bodacious it was, beautiful and brilliant. It glowed a green so intense you almost couldn't stare at it for prolonged periods.

Tails entered through the lower left level of the reactor room, still flustered. Sonic followed, keeping a few feet away. He wondered what he was going to say next, yet thinking anything might anger him. Tails made his way up a flight of stairs to the second level. Tails advanced towards where the emerald was held. He sadly and disappointingly looked at the crumble that was the emerald. Tails no longer believed in the power that it once held. Seeing the clutter only assured him that nothing in this universe lived forever. Everything dies. Tails looked down at his watch, it read 5:45 (Mobian time), and looked back at the emerald.

"Useless." Tails scuffed the mess with his shoe.

He is dead wrong.

Tails turned around. Sonic was gone. Good riddance. We don't need him.

A cold breeze blew past Tails. He turned around. "Sonic?" Normally a fast wind meant Sonic was around. Was he spying on him? That little…

A familiar yet unrecognizable voice spoke, "Tails."

The fox turned around. His suspicions were correct, the blue hedgehog had been spying on him.

"I thought I told you…"Tails noticed Sonic's head faced the ground, as if disappointed or saddened. Tails moved in a little closer, realizing Sonic's deathly pale fur. His quills on his back were pointed upwards as if he had seen a ghost. "Are you OK? Sonic?" Sonic looked up, Tails saw. Indeed there was something different about Sonic, he had never seen him spooked before. But his face did not match his body. He looked normal, grinning even.

"Tails," Sonic started," I...I wanted to say that I," Sonic paused, it seemed as if he wasn't thinking clearly. "Tails, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't try harder to… save her."

The yellow fox bit his lower lip, holding back emotion, he relinquished a funny look. Tails eyes began to glimmer.

Sonic noticed this and continued. "I didn't want to give you false hope when I handed you the seed. Maybe it's time to dismiss and disregard it Tails, I think it's time you moved on." Sonic moved closer to Tails, he was on the cusp of letting his tears stream down. Sonic left with another sad look, and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. He leaned in, and at this point Tails was about to explode were it not for what Sonic was about to say next.

"She's dead. And you can't bring her back." Sonic had never been so cold. His words clung on to Tails' throat, the chill of the statement froze him to his core, and his ears rung with gelid consistency. Sonic walked away. And the poor boy was left alone for sure this time. From that moment on, no words would ever cling on to Tails so deeply and would ever maim Tails as bloody as that.


	3. Chapter 2: Gd TwistingFixing Rlts

**Chapter 2**

**Guide on Twisting and Fixing Realities**

**2 Hours after the battle**

Sonic had helped Tails get to the Typhoon's secondary bridge, everyone was gathered there, even Eggman and his robots. Tails looked around, he should have been happy because everyone he loved was safe. Almost everyone. But for some reason, something happened, something in that very moment had happened, and yet nothing changed yet.

Tails felt as if he was being fed darkness, his belly filling up with anger, his cold sweats were huge drops of heat on his forehead. Everything went black for a second, he could only see Death and its cold fingers had snatched her, and taken her away from him.

Eggman started, "You did a fine job Tails." While putting his hand on his shoulder, he said it resolutely yet with calmness in his voice. He continued, "Let us never forget what was done here today. Her sacrifice was sure from the beginning, we're all too lucky." The Doctor bowed his head, others did as well, but Tails was the only one who stared back at guilty suspects.

It was strange for Eggman to share sentiment this way, especially around his sworn enemies. This made him feel a bit out of place so he quickly said, "Well it's been fun kids! Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun!" He snapped, "We're leaving." He swept out of the room and made his way back to his ship. All three robots stared, more at the fact that Eggman had given a "beautiful" speech. They said their goodbyes, and as they reached Tails, Decoe and Bocoe gave him a heartfelt hug, even for robots. As for Bokkun, he was choked up, he couldn't say anything, and cried all the way back to Eggman.

Sonic was next to Tails, he hugged him with one arm, his little brother was hurt, he wanted to fix this, but he didn't know how. This wasn't like before, he couldn't just tell him it was going to be okay, he couldn't put a band-aid on it. Next to Sonic was, Amy who was still crying with Cream, followed by Knuckles and the Chaotix, and Chris. They didn't realize that Rouge had made her way out of there, it made her feel quite uncomfortable. But she sat in the hallway, regretting some previous decisions she had made.

In fact the whole room was disagreeable, it was dark, All that was on for a light was an emergency red light on the side of the door. Everyone stood, not knowing what to say, until Sonic broke the silence.

"Guys, you all did a great job. She would be proud. Let's go home."

"I killed her." A faint voice had been heard in the dark room. Sonic looked at the fox he was hugging, he had tears in his eyes again, only this time he raised his hands to his face, and covered himself from the world and his friends.

"What? Tails?" Sonic replied, shocked he would say that. Tails got on his knees, now everyone looked at him, and saw that he was the one most affected and traumatized-with good reason. Mayhap even the one who had lost the most in life in so little time. They heard him wail, they should have been glad, but Tails made them feel uneasy. It was as if Dark Oak was still fighting them after death, haunting them. The team felt sympathetic towards Tails, and despondent about the one they had lost.

"I … killed her," the fox boy repeated, that time everyone heard him. "I Killed Her!" He yelled. He had spooked the already frightened Cream.

"Why is Tails saying that?" Cream sobbed.

Amy extended an arm to the fox, "Tails please don't."

"But it's the truth!" Tails barked.

Sonic held Tails again, "Tails, I know this is hard, and, I don't know what you must be feeling right now, but it had to be done, she would have wanted you to be happy, she even sai-"

Tails interjected, "Shut up!" The fox boy had never yelled at his best friend. "You don't know what she wanted! None of you knew her like I did! She... was special."

Amy put his hand on his shoulder, "Tails we understand, and I know-" He interrupted, making a scene again.

"Amy what would you know about it!? Sonic doesn't even care about you!"

"Tails!" Sonic yelled. This made Amy whimper. The Chaotix made their way out, feeling out of place, as Rouge came back in. Tails saw her walk in.

"And you! You wanted her dead! Just like Shadow! And now she's dead, are you happy?! Tails' furious head wore red.

Rouge only put her hands on her mouth, not knowing what to say. For the first time she didn't have a clever remark. Tails might have been out of line, but he spoke the truth.

"And as for Shadow, I hope he shares in her Fate, and good riddance!" The fox hit deep and hard. Another first for Rouge, his comment sent the bat in a soft pule, a very strange sight, she ran off. Knuckles appeared offended, and confronted Tails.

"Listen here boy! You have no right, no right at all to hurt her feelings! - would be disappointed!" Knuckles clenched his fists tight as he said this, he teeth also clenched, ready to pounce on Tails, but he restrained himself.

Tails threw himself at the echidna, landing a blow near his mouth. This sent Knuckles back a bit, he grabbed his mouth in pain. The fox pointed at Knuckles ferociously.

"Don't you dare even say her name! You were going to make her blind… an... and deaf! So did you Chris!" Tails signaled at Chris. The accused boy was in confused awe.

"Miles that's enough!" Sonic had just called Tails by his real name, he hadn't heard that in a while. This angered Tails even more, he faced his best friend.

"This is your fault, you let her die, you watched while she sacrificed herself, and then you let Shadow do all the work, it should be you there not him!"

No projectile would ever hit so hard, a comment coming from Tails would make Sonic stop and think. Meanwhile Cream had never in her life been more scared for her friends, even when they fought the Metarex she had hope, but all seemed lost to her. She ran over to Tails to try and calm him down.

"Tails please you're scaring me!" Tails in his rage sped around to face whatever noise he heard, but he spun too violently, hitting the rabbit in the eye. Cream grabbed her head in reaction, she fell on the ground with a small thud. It took a while for her to react, but when she did, she screamed in agony and ran out of the cabin.

Everyone left in the room stared at fox, not knowing what to say or how to react. Tails had come to his senses, he had just hurt Cream, she was his friend too, and she was just a kid. How stupid of me! What was I thinking?!

Sonic picked Amy up. Her face was full of red and tears. Chris motioned to Knuckles to leave with him, and the hurt fox boy was left by himself.

**5 Hours after the battle**

Cream had cried herself to sleep that night. She hadn't even bothered taking off her shoes or putting on her pajamas. She muffled something in her sleep, grabbing onto her Chao tightly. It was rare that Cream had nightmares, and when she did they weren't bad. However the past few months in outer space had become a living nightmare to her, losing - was just the tip. She twisted and turned, making Cheese wake up uncomfortably.

Everything, all around her, was dark, stoic even. The word cryptic was an understatement to describe what she saw. She did not move, scared that something might pop out and scare her. She did not know where she was. Mist rose from the ground up, not a peep was heard. She stood there, very frightened, until she felt something on her shoulder, and then heard a rasping. She looked but no one was there. But the voice said, "You did this, you have no one to blame but yourself." The voice sounded devilish, this demon made her bones chill.

Cream yelped, who had just whispered this to her? She made a run for it, not knowing where she was headed, anywhere was better than where she started.

She made a stop, she could feel grass beneath her. Then she saw two familiar tails, drooped down, Tails was sad, she noticed. She made her way up the hill that he was on, it was a hard climb. And every step she took made it harder to breath, until she found herself crawling. Her eyes itched like crazy all of a sudden. She scratched them but still crawled until she was a few inches away from him. "Tails?" she asked.

"AHHH!" Cream had stood up on her bed, gasping for air. She was covered in sweat, and so was her bed. She checked the bed, just in case she hadn't wet it. Unfortunately she felt a big puddle, and a familiar stench could confirm this.

No! She had never wet the bed before. She put her hands on her face, I'm so stupid, she thought.

"Creamy dear are you okay!?" Amy's voice was heard outside her door. But before she could respond or react to anything at all, Amy opened the door to find Cream covering her wet spot with her blanket in embarrassment. Amy sped to her and grabbed her, asking her all sorts of questions, but Cream was much too embarrassed to answer any of them. She just looked down at her bed. This is not happening, this is so awkward and stupid, why did this happen!

Amy stopped talking and just looked at Cream, until she smelled it too. Amy loosened up and smiled at her. "Oh baby, come here." Amy whispered to Cream. She got on top of her bed and held Cream.

Cream could not be any more mortified, she was blushing, good thing it was dark so no one could see her, although there was a light in the hall, she really didn't want anyone to see her like this. Is something wrong with me? She was too old to wet the bed. She was almost nine.

Cream finally had the courage to speak,"Amy, I...I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I...I...I... don't know why I did that.. I'm so scared.." It was hard to understand her between sobs, but Amy understood.

"Oh Creamy, It's okay, I'm here. It was just a bad dream." She cradled the rabbit in her arms, moving back and forth. "You don't have to be sorry baby. This is normal I promise, you just had a little accident that's all." The blue Chao clung to Cream. "Chao."

Cream felt even redder when Amy called the incident like that. But she felt calmer. And soon, Cream the little rabbit fell back asleep, but had no more nightmares that night while Amy held her.

* * *

As soon as Cream woke up she immediately checked her bed, and she remembered that Amy had come in and slept with her. To her surprise the bed was clean, and she had her pajamas on, they had a carrot pattern on them. So embarrassing, she thought. Amy has seen my P.J.'s. Cream looked at them wondering if she was too old for them, she liked them a lot, but she was growing up.

Amy did tell her it was normal-what had happened, even though it really didn't feel that way. Plus she also remembered what happened with Tails, she shook, she was dismal that Tails was sad, but she was even more heartbroken that Tails had accidentally hit her. She felt her eye, it stung a good deal, so she climbed out of bed and went to her bathroom.

She got there expecting the worst as she saw herself in the mirror. And she was right, it looked terrible. She could still see out of her left eye, so at least that was good. It was great that she didn't have to climb or have to get a chair to see herself. This bathroom was specifically designed for Cream-that was nice of Tails. Really the whole ship was a marvel, and Tails had only built it in a few months, originally as a battleship designed to battle anything Eggman threw their way specifically in the sea.

Cream was very positive about many situations, and she tried to see the good in people, even if they hurt her. She was still mad at him, but she would forgive Tails.

Where was Cheese? She thought to herself. He was vanishing more and more these last few weeks in space. She wondered if that had been her fault, maybe she hadn't paid too much attention to him. Maybe she would do something special for him today. She turned on the faucet and sprayed water on her face. She remembered everything that had happened yesterday, -, Tails, the nightmare.

I miss her. Tails hit me, I hope he isn't still mad at me. While she looked at herself in her mirror emotion choked her.

"Hey Creamy." It was Amy's voice. Cream looked over, Amy was already fully dressed, but Cream wasn't. She blushed as she thought about last night. "How are you?"

Cream responded," I feel dumb… and my face hurts. I know he didn't mean it, but he's my friend, and he made you and Rouge cry!" Amy stepped over to where she was and hugged her, stroking her long ears that drooped down her back.

"There, there. Nothing will excuse his behavior, but things will get better I promise." This gave Cream hope, she trusted Amy, she was like her big sister, and she did give a good example, most of the time. Other times she could be mean, what with all the Piko-meet-face fights, and the obsession she had with Sonic, but she made sure it didn't get to her.

"I'm sorry about last night…" the girl apologized while looking at the ground. She was still so embarrassed, ugh! It seemed so dumb that she could do such a thing. She wished she hadn't had that nightmare.

"Cream, let me tell you a secret." Oh no, Cream didn't like secrets, even if they were exciting. She really didn't like keeping things a secret from anyone, because to her that felt like lying. She wasn't a blabber-mouth but lying was next to… well, doing something really bad. And she despised it. But, Amy being close to her… fine, just tell me.

"When I was younger, I used to wet the bed, and the other kids used to tease me, but I thought it was about that, when really I'm sure all the boys had a crush on me!" Amy flitted her pink quills looking like she was the only star out there in space. She smirked, realizing she was off topic. "They used to call me rascal," Amy's smirk turned crisp, sad memories filled her. Amy had shared more than she wanted to, but Cream was getting the picture.

"Amy I don't think you are a rascal, thanks for trusting me." A weak smile was all that was seen on the expressionless rabbit. "Really thank you," she hugged her.

"Thanks sweetie. I used to be really mean," those words made Amy give more sentiment. Cream was surprised, worried, she imagined what "really mean" meant. "I'm sorry, I know I can be kind of uncontrollable sometimes. Thanks Cream." Amy smiled.

"I would do anything for my friends, just like her."

"Hey." Amy responded.

"I'm okay," Cream snapped. Whoa, that was unexpected. She slipped out of the bathroom leaving Amy, she didn't want to worry Amy with talking about her or the dream.

"Sorry…" Cream regretted mentioning her, it would take a while for everyone to get used to her passing.

Cream poked her head in, "And by the way, don't call me baby."


	4. Chapter 3: Now You See Me

**Chapter 3**

**Now You See Me**

**Present Day-4:00 (Mobian Time)**

Cream the rabbit had an orange dress with a blue tie and white collar. Her blue tie had two straps laying down on her shirt. She also had on white socks and a pair of orange shoes with yellow on the tops. She had gloves on, and her outfit was getting a little tight on her as she strolled away from her room. The rabbit was small, she had grown in the two years the Sonic team started these adventures. The rabbit was tan, and had a cream colored face, with long floppy ears that extended all the way to her back.

She felt older in a way, at least older than the other kids back home, and Charmy, way older than him. But not to brag no, never that. She just felt experienced, and she also felt torn, like her heart was just ripped in half, but she didn't want to show it to the others. It wasn't right, she had to be strong for her friends, for Tails especially. She didn't want to be mad at him, but she was. Let's not think about it.

Cream walked on and wondered if what she said to Amy was rude, she passed a very long hallway, a staircase was to the right, a door to the left. This part of the ship looked Immaculate. Untouched by Dark Oak and his Metarex. She tried to Reminisce. Tried very hard to block out the melancholy, but it was too much. This had to be handled somehow, she didn't want to burst out in tears again. She took the door to her left, this lead to another larger staircase which led to the cabin where some of her friends were.

"Cream! Hey. Are you OK?" It was Knuckles, he noticed her black eye.

Cream touched her eye, Ow! It still stung like crazy, but she didn't want to worry anyone, lying was going to be the answer for this occasion unfortunately.

"I'm fine Knuckles." It was weird for her not to say Mister before his name. She wondered if he had noticed. "I was just checking up on all of you, to see if anyone needed some food. I'm going to give Tails some anyway."

"Sure thing." Knuckles looked at Chris. "Are you hungry Chris?"

"I'm alright, I just ate. But thanks Cream." Chris was hungry but he didn't want to bother Cream.

Cream looked around to see if anyone else was there. "Okay, I'll be right back." She smiled, it was fake, but she was going to make it. Everything is going to be Okay. The rabbit walked off to the kitchen.

Knuckles and Chris were now close friends. Something about risking their lives and saving the galaxy had made them see more eye to eye. Knuckles was a shy guy, he didn't really open up to anyone else, he felt that solitude was going to be his life, and that he should get used to it. But it was nice to have a friend to chat with.

Knuckles started back again, "So anyway as I was saying, when I get back home I'm going to take a long nap by the Master Emerald. I'm tired of all this fighting, and don't get me wrong I love a good fight."

"I just hope the Master Emerald will be okay." Chris said worriedly.

"It will, trust me I know these things." Knuckles explained, even though it was hard to explain, "It's kind of hard to explain. All I know is that I'm connected with it somehow, and that as the Guardian, I have to always protect it."

"Guardian?" This was not a term Chris was familiar with.

"Oh, yeah. I was sort of charged with protecting it, as the last of my kin." Knuckles walked closer to the cabin window and folded his arms. He stood by and gazed out into the light. Chris wondered whether he should say something.

"Sometimes I swear I can hear it whisper to me." Knuckles closed his eyes, he could hear it in his mind.

"But you're always asleep, maybe that's why you can't hear it. Uh." Oh crap, Chris had said something that might have offended the echidna.

"Why you little! Haha!"

"Ah! I'm only kidding!"

"I know kid." Knuckles tone sounded serious.

"Haha. Hmm. It's too bad about Tails and - huh?"

"Nah... well yea but... the kids' a little wuss." He said speaking his mind.

"Knuckles that's insensitive."

"I'm just saying, I know a thing or two about things."

"Gee Knuckles, that makes sense," the boy rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious though, things happen for a reason, and they should stay put."

"What do you mean by stay put?"

"Actually I'm not quite sure," he stared out the massive cabin window.

Do you see me now?

"Something doesn't feel right. I mean even considering… It just... something feels out of place. Like a part of us died along with her." Knuckles wasn't sure about what he was saying, but he felt a twinge of despair with the coming wintery climate of the ship.

"I know what you mean, everyone has been on edge."

"But it's more than that Chris. I can't put my Knuckle on it. Ha!" Knuckles thought he had just made a clever remark, but it hadn't been.

"Oh Knuckles, you're as good at comedy as Charmy is." This put a smile on Knuckles, he very much took this to heart and didn't catch up on the sarcasm.

"You know, you're right. I am that funny. Maybe I should take it up as a hobby." As Knuckles was feeling better about his self-esteem, and Chris, worried about his friends' career choices, a loud clunk was heard from a nearby vent. And all heat from the ship was sucked out.

Chris jumped awkwardly, "What was that?" All of a sudden the lights turned off. "And who turned down the heat?" Chris shivered tremendously at once, something eerie crawled on his neck.

Knuckles positioned himself in front of the boy. "Don't worry Chris, I'll defend you from the spooky, dark." Knuckles joked again.

"C-c-cut it out, I'm not scared, I'm just freezing… Hey Knuckles, d-do you think Sh-Shadow made it-t-t?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course he did, that hedgehog is as tough as I am." Chris wasn't at all convinced or amused by his response.

"C'mon he's Shadow. He made it through the ARK Okay." Knuckles walked back to the towering window, "Let's go fix the lights, nothing in this place works anymore." Knuckles noticed the light that Shadow should have been making was gone. Only a few shades of what appeared to be a dark blue remained. And the three beings that were in the cabin left.

* * *

The soup was almost ready, the kind rabbit stirred her anger into the pot. She stirred rapidly and aggressively. Ow! Hot broth stained her arm. She stopped and grabbed a towel nearby. I'm so stupid, she thought. Why am I acting this way? This isn't like me. At least she was proud of herself. She noticed she didn't need a chair anymore to cook, all she needed was a stool. Wow, I've gotten taller! She tried stirring again, and humming something her mother always hummed.

The life of the little cream-colored girl was a simple one, at least, it should have been. It wasn't till her friends needed help. She would do anything for them. It was always about them. Good manners and helping others. That's what her mother taught her. Cream missed her mother more than ever. She wanted to cry. She wanted to tell her everything.

Clank! A few pots fell nearby,"Yipe!" Cream sped around. "What on Mobius?!" There was no response to her yelp, she walked around but found nothing. Strange… She looked at the ridge of the kitchen to find two wagging yellow Tails. Oh no. Her heart turned to ice when she froze. The rabbit did not move for a good minute, but the tails kept wagging. She heard him say, "I know I left a power supply here, only I know the code," she raised her arm as if to say something, but nothing came out. More mumbles came from the boy, and all Cream could do was stand awkwardly, she was getting flustered.

"What hell!" Cream gasped at this, she had never heard Tails swear before. Unfortunately for her, Tails had heard her gasp. He looked up to see a shocked Cream. "Ah!" Tails jumped. "Oh, thank goodness it's just you."

Cream looked off-center, she only stared as Tails stared back. Her cheeks felt warm.

"Oh! That's right! Um, sorry for being such a jerk, um, "he paused, he had a strange, sad look, "I really have to go Cream." He walked off leaving Cream. She stood in shock for another second, and realized how rude that was of Tails. It didn't even feel like a real apology and she was definitely not ready to see him. Cream covered her face with her gloves. There was an emotional intensity inside her, she was not ready to feel those type of feelings, and yet, she did. Why of all beings had she specifically been predestined to have the experiences she had had, to see what horrors she would see.

As Cream was about to fall into despair she thought. Wait… Why am I crying? Tails has it worse than anyone here... even me. She wiped a tear and was resolute about what to do next. She readied her soup.

* * *

Meanwhile in another part of the Blue Typhoon. Amy heard from Sonic who heard from Vector who heard Tails tell Charmy that they should have a talent show. This was perfect. The pink hedgehog would not let the opportunity go. This would be good for the rest of the crew to lighten up, but more importantly a chance for Sonic and her to be in the same room together. Then maybe Sonic would notice her talented self. Now all she needed was a talent. She could act out a famous piece from A Lie of Two Chao, or who could forget the interesting piece from Eight Enraged Echidnas. Oh! She could even sing to her Sonic. So many Ideas popped up in her head. This made her very excited, and she grabbed Sonic's wrist and dragged him to the ship's auditorium. This was where they had her Thank You party for everyone, a disco ball still hung with some streamers on the walls and floor. What a mess! This would not do, if Tails was to come to this, there must be no sign of her.

Come to think of it, why of all places would Tails want to go back here? She remembered the conversation she had with Charmy the Bee.

"I'm sitting here… well rather, I'm flying! Or is it floating… well anyway," Amy rolled her eyes at the little bee. "You know how Vector reassigned us to the kitchen? Apparently that became our new home base, I don't know, It was his idea, has he gained weight by the way? Anyway," Amy was not amused, she grinned sarcastically. This was impossible, when Sonic had told her that Charmy had some good news, she could not be more thrilled. Even if it was from Charmy, no offense to him, she needed any kind of positivity. "Just cut to the chase will ya'?" Amy interrupted more of Charmy's blabbering.

"Oh yea!" He said, his mind now clear-according to his standards- on what he needed to say. He started again, "I'm helping Vector fix the stove or something. Wait! Just Something! Ahh!" Charmy jolted his hands towards Amy awkwardly, I wasn't supposed to say that… Charmy turned to see that Amy's face had her famous unequivocally flagrant glare of hers. If looks could only kill, Charmy would be twitching on the ground. "Okay, okay!" He reassured Amy.

"I'm… helping Vector and all of a sudden I hear something weird behind me and I check to look but it's only Tails so I say hey Tails but it's even more weird 'cuz he had like a hoody on and," One long breath later, "But then I remembered what happened with him and Cream, so I got all mad but then he said that we should have a talent show or something and then," Amy interjected," What!?" Charmy's response to Amy's was a cower in fear and he covered his face with his hands,"Ahh, don't hurt me!" He peeked when he moved one finger away. She didn't look mad, quite the contrary she was almost in tears. So dramatic.

Amy could not help herself, "Oh how wonderful! What a great Idea!" She spun around probably daydreaming about Sonic.

"Very dramatic… Oop!" The rest of the details got a little fuzzy to Amy, something about unbridled rage mixed with the fires of Death in her eyes. She shouldered off the thought.

Amy Looked at the long banner-"Thank You Everyone!" It had said. Amy sighed, missing her friend. Everything seemed strange to her, like a piece of her was missing, she just had to move on though, and nothing could change what happened. She looked over at Sonic who was leaning against the wall, looking at the room, a little indifferent, but Amy noticed something else about him, mournfulness. It was strange now that she thought about it, he hadn't even put up a big fight coming here.

Without moving Amy looked around, and then back at Sonic. A few unseasonable moments passed by until she began, "Hey, Sonic?"

Sonic did not hesitate, and did not look up, "Yeah, Amy?"

"Is everything okay? Well... considering.."

"Yes... considering." He lied.

Amy had rarely seen Sonic upset, and when he was he would always brush it off with a joke, or a smart remark. She had to fix this, she had to make everyone feel at least a little bit happy.

Three little Chaos walked in, waving their little Chao hands around, what seemed like shouting in their language.

Guiltily she commented, "I'm sorry, I... I never even asked you if you wanted to help me with the talent show!"

"Sure, why not?"

Sonic had not smiled or shown any sign of caring. He started picking things up and organizing the cluttered room, very slowly,-at least, slow for Sonic- no speed involved. This reassured Amy that Sonic was not himself, and this perturbed her. For once the Blue Blur was more noticeable than ever. Amy gazed at Sonic, she did this a lot, and she was the expert at it. She stared at his strong yet thin legs, his furry-tanned stomach, and his eyes, so green, and radiant, yet not so colorful today, she could stare at those eyes forever though. They always had a certain glow about them, and a hint of mystery. This made Amy drool a little, and Sonic caught it, making Amy turn as red as a pink hedgehog can look. Sonic chuckled, smiled as he continued his work.

What was wrong with her! Her hands were covering her mouth, she was so embarrassed. Drooling, Amy, really? You are just impossible, you know that!? She sighed. Grabbing a ladder, she kept ruminating, she climbed up taking down the banner. Wait a minute, did Sonic just smile at me? But I was being obsessive and clingy again. What was that all about? Sonic never gave her the satisfaction when she was all over him. This new Sonic was freaking her out, and yet she liked it. Amy kept thinking about Sonic, about all of her friends, and then, especially about Tails. She remembered the day it happened.

* * *

The clock struck 5:00, Mobian time. Clip Clap, Clip Clap. Echoes came from a determined little girl, walking intently through the many white hallways of the Typhoon. With hands full of trays she was adamant to mend her relationship with Tails. And whether or not she had been hurt, it did not matter. What mattered to her now was Tails' wellbeing. The years before all of this ruckus, she had been close to Tails. But in her mind all she really had known was conflict. Sure Eggman had been a threat to her world, but he had never really killed anyone. At least there had been no reports that he had. But in all this time, Cream had developed a special connection with Tails. He had been an older brother to her. He would be there for her if she was hurt, if she was scared, if she was doubtful. Truly besides Cheese and Vanilla (Cream's mother), Tails would provide such tender care for the rabbit, and she would certainly not forget.

Clip Clap, Clip Clap. Cream's heart was pounding, blood pumped ever so harder into her brain. The adrenaline she felt was different than before yet still powerful enough to make her woozy. "Ooo!" She would say after almost having dropped the food. Calm down Cream. It bugged her that she would act strangely around Tails, not having realized what her true feelings were. Thoughts became memories of both of them playing in the grass next to her house. She would pick up flowers and put them on Tails' head. It didn't bother him. He loved her. And this thought was a reality to Cream, she knew that Tails would always love her no matter what.

Clip Clap, Clip Clap. This part of the Typhoon seemed cleaner, it hadn't been destroyed like the rest of the ship. Yet parts of the wall, blackened by fires probably, were strewn in an unorderly pattern. She meticulously had to make small jumps here and there, avoiding any charred object she came in contact with. Cream maneuvered through the mess, her long, tan ears flopped with every skip or jump.

Clip Clap, Clip Clap. She stopped and listened.

Clip Clap.

Straightaway all of Cream's hairs shot up. A substance rose upwards past her dress, climbed up her spine, and made its way to the top of her neck. It felt as if a thousand iced toothpicks had lodged their way into her skin below her head. She was a couple feet away from Tails' door, but she did not dare move, with clenched teeth she waited a second, until turning slowly. Nothing. Phew. Relieved, however, she could not help the icy feeling on her back from leaving.

Cream paused a foot away from the threshold. What will I say? She until recently gave suss to the notion that she had not thought of a single word to say to Tails. No, I trust Tails. He had just apologized to her, it was time to return the favor. Cream extended her available arm. Knock knock knock knock knock.

Silence filled the vacant crypt. An innumerable amount of thoughts surpassed the girl. Maybe this wasn't the best Idea…. but… I can't turn back now. She waited, unsure if Tails was even inside.

Cream knocked five more times and spoke, "Tails? It's… me, Cream." Cream knocked, and on her third knock she heard, "Go away." A soft and plain, raspy voice.

Cream responded, "I... just came to give you this."

"Are you deaf? I said leave!" The voice did not change in raspiness.

"But Tails, it's me! Cream!" The rabbit's eyes gleamed again.

"I don't care who you are! This is your fault! I hate you!"

Cream's eyes widened, as did her mouth in awe.

What pomposity it would be for me to not participate in such an act as this. Let me partake from this delicious bounty.

Moments later the bunny realized she had dropped the food, and she ran. She ran as fast as she could, not knowing where she was going, but she had to leave. Anywhere but here please! She sobbed, and wailed, some of the crew heard her run down the hall when she passed their rooms.

Run fast little girl, the quicker you do, the more you undo reality.

Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this.

Watch... and you will see. The culmination of a thousand versions planned, billions of years of design and forethought. And Along came the stranger.

* * *

Cream's tears surrounded her, they went neither up nor down. An incredible machine it was. The ability, not only to breathe without a helmet, but make a matter-rejuvenating vacuum. An antithetical phrase, yes. But the ability to make the immaterial possible was jaw-dropping. Tails truly was ahead of his time, and even that might be an understatement. The device was kept inside of the ear, connected, as not to be found or fall easily. It resembled something like an earring and would clip to the outer ear canal and the inner pinna. Both her eyes and nose swelled at the wet contact. Her gloves stained with clear, white dejection.

Cream motioned as if to grab her Chao cheese. Unfortunately he was nowhere near her. She must have thought she was alone, because every inch of her body felt weak and deprived of joy and anything warm. She looked up at the void. How could there be so much nothing and yet filled with life. She sniffed, apparently she had been crying for a while now for mucus started to build up in her nostrils. She stared at the lonely yellow light in the distance. A brave, foolish soul he was. It glimmered every hour or so. What on Mobius had happened there? But something interesting caught the corner of her eyes. There was another light, only it was hard to see. It was a blue, or a darker shade of blue. An ominous Duke or Iris, giving off a circle of Periwinkle. She would not have noticed it if she weren't outside, she had to squint to see it clearly. She gave up though, and stared at her orange shoes. They were dirty. I need to get these cleaned, she thought. She closed her eyes and pictured Tails yelling at her. She brushed it off, trying to think of a positive outcome of this, anything that might be worth learning from this experience. She was good at that, only, she couldn't think of one thing. Cream grabbed her long ears and laid them on her face, she started to play with them as she stopped crying.

"Little girl. Why are you crying?"

"Yipe!" Cream got startled. The voice came from absolutely nowhere in particular. But there he was.

"I'm s-sorry, I did not mean to scare you." The stranger held his side painfully.

Cream stumbled back, one hand on her mouth, the other trying to move her body backwards. Once she realized where the voice was, she stopped, still fearful. The figure was radiant, he was a mint colored anthropomorphic animal by the looks of it. The rest of the details were unclear since it was dark.

"Who... who are you?" Cream stood back, afraid he might try something. She noticed the stranger held his hand at his side, he was bleeding. "Are... you alright?"

"Never mind that. Again I must apologize." He stepped forward. Now Cream could see he was just like Sonic, only with less spikes, and more fur, a gray patch that was on his head instead of his chest. Four spikes did droop down the sides of his head. He spoke up again, "You may call me Éleos."

Seeing as to this not changing the rabbit's mood, the stranger crouched, and extended his hand towards her.

"I promise I will not hurt you," he said reassuringly.

He wasn't wearing gloves, as was the custom with her people. She saw the minted, soft hands, and took them. He lifted her up. What else was odd about him? She only stared at him, and looked down at his feet. He wasn't wearing any shoes. Cream could see his mint toes protruding out of what appeared to be tanned sandals held together by rope. The rope attached to the sole and was tied back behind by the heel and a little higher.

"There, that wasn't so bad, he said sweetly. Now…" He extended his hand and caught a tear mid-drift. The stranger smiled as he wiped them away. "My lady, who has wronged you?"

Cream, still taken aback, stumbled through what was, "I, uh... I'm." She blushed, embarrassed that the stranger had caught her at such a vulnerable state. Cream took a deep breath and reconstituted. "My name is Cream." She noticed both of his hands were on her shoulders. "It's nothing." Wait where did he come from! She thought to herself. This situation was all too surreal for her.

"It sure doesn't seem like nothing." He did not pry any longer. As if reading her mind he continued talking,"You must be wondering why I'm here. Listen closely Cream. I can't explain too much for now," the stranger's eyes narrowed, and Cream's eyes widened. "Go and help Amy."

Cream must have thought the stranger was crazy, for the look she gave him supported that theory.

"What?" Cream worried for her friend. Was Amy OK?!

"I have to leave Cream. You will see me after." As quick as he came, he left, vanished into a pocket of space.

The girl ran as fast as she could to her friend, she felt her heart throbbing in her throat.


	5. Chapter 4: Forlorn Familiar Faces

**Chapter 4**

**Forlorn Familiar Faces**

What a wowser he is. Always yabberin'. Charmy Bee stood by the rest of his team, constantly talking trying to explain what had happened. He was flying even though he had sports tape on his wings, he swung his crutches every time he got to a good part of the story.

"So there I was minding my own business, and suddenly a huge, gigantic, enormous hammer comes swinging at me, and what do you know, it's Amy!

"Being the gentlebee that I am, I let her think she's got the drop on me. And I say, oh Amy you scared me! I'm not being serious of course, but boy can I act! So Amy-you know Amy- unleashes her 10-foot-long hammer and aims right at yours truly. I of course am not even slightly provoked or unsettled by this. And as her hammer gets closer and closer, with the flick of a finger I send it flying off to the farthest zone." The bee winced, his wings made him uncomfortable every time he lifted his arms.

"All I heard was a BOOM!" One of Charmy's crutches flew by Espio's head, narrowly missing him. "Hey watch it!"

"Sorry Espio." Charmy smirked. Anyway then I looked back at Amy and all I could see were stars in her eyes, and she says," Putting on the most feminine voice he could, Charmy readied and cleared his throat. "Oh Charmy!" He cried. "I didn't know you were sooo strooong!" And I had to admit that I had been working out."

Espio looked at Vector, eyes rolling as much as Mobius rotates around the sun. Vector was unusually quiet, he was patient enough to let Charmy finish the story.

"So then she tells me,"Charmy, may I call you Charmy?" And I says, yeah sure toots. And she says oh Charmy my hero, kiss me! And I says, psh! Toots, my heart belongs to another."

It seemed as if the crocodile had had enough of Charmy and his shenanigans. He had not said word one since Charmy began his love story. Although he began to open his mouth as if to say something, "Boy Charmy that's great." At that Espio shot a glare at Vector, as did Charmy. The once green glow of hardened skin looked pale and used up. Vector crossed his arms, "I mean it Charmy, that's great." You could have imagined the kind of look both Charmy and Espio had on their faces. "Now if you're done with that, help me with this fort." Quickly a tanned blur ran past the door to the kitchen.

One million and a half thoughts ran past the little rabbit. As she skidded across the many white hallways, she tried to dismiss anything remotely deathly. Sweat beads ran down her forehead as she thought, Amy is Okay, she's fine, I'll find her and all of this worrying will be for nothing. She had probably just imagined the whole ordeal. I mean it was crazy, it was easier to believe that she had seen a ghost. Cream gasped for air when she stopped. Why of all places here? She was in the secondary bridge. It seemed as if muscle memory had taken her here. She stopped to catch her breath. The room felt oddly comfortable. As she entered the room, memories of good times past filled her mind. She bit her lower lip, holding back tears. No, I will not cry. It was times like these she never pictured would happen, no one did. She always thought they would save the day as always, and everyone would live happily afterwards. How naive she was to think that way. Cream made her way to the captain's chair, now modified for a better firing sequence, to shoot straight and through.

"Ow!" Cream grabbed for what had poked her, and sat back down. It was another one of Tails' doohickeys. It had a handle to grab on and it looked like a gun, only without the classic barrel, and a red light shone on it. It had a lot more wires than a gun might have. She set it on her lap.

Cream pressed a few buttons, and a holographic screen came on the dashboard. It flickered wildly at first, but calmed. She stared blankly at the pulsating screen. Something had lured her here, she shivered. Why was she here again? Oh yeah Amy! Somehow she wasn't as worried as before, and pulled up a catalog of camera views on the screen, rummaging through where her friend might be. She pulled up the camera for the kitchen, and just saw the Chaotix yelling at each other over a pile of tables. Secondly she pulled up a few cameras dangling over some hallways. Some were operational, others not so much. She noticed one had a particular fuzz about it. And the other next to it as well, as if the screen on that spot was cracked. She then saw Tails exiting the room where the Master Emerald was supposed to be, angrily. She quickly pushed it aside. Next she noticed a blue hedgehog. Ah. And next to him was a pink hedgehog. Phew! The girl leaned back on the chair. Her mind was still beating from all the excitement. She thought for a moment, about everything, Amy, the stranger, Tails. She didn't want to be scared anymore.

What kind of a life is that? Cream let herself despair for a moment. And as she closed her eyes she imagined the incident, the loud bangs, the freakish monster, the cold, the stranger she might as well have made up. Who was that? Cream continued to think, while she headed to Amy.

She noticed she still had Tails' device, so she decided to leave it in her room, since she was closer to it.

Cream half expected there to be yells from Amy, and more not-being-in-the-same-room-as-Amy from Sonic, to her surprise nothing of the sort presented to her in that fashion. The both of them were actually working together. Amy handed Sonic junk while Sonic organized the room. I guess you could say Sonic was doing more of the work and Amy was just giving orders. Still both of them made it work. There was no more banner or disco ball. The stage, the tables and chairs were neatly oriented. As soon as Cream saw Amy she ran to her and held her.

"Oh hey Cream," Amy jumped. "Where have you been?" As Cream gave no response a worried look grew on the hedgehog. "Did something happen? What happened?"

Should I tell her? No that would only worry her. What about the stranger? And what he told me? "Um no, it's just… you know… Tails."

"Oh yeah? What did he do this time? I'll give him something to think about!" Cream shot up as she saw raised knuckles.

"No, no! It's nothing, I promise." Phew… no I can't tell her about him, she would just think I was making it up.

"Well it better be nothing!"

"I don't want you to die," the little girl realized what she had said. Why did I say that? Cream you're so stupid!

"Huh? Who said I was going to die?" She crouched down to eye level. "Did you hear me? Who said I was going to die?"

It was what he said wasn't it? "Nobody, I mean... nothing." Amy was not convinced, but she let it go anyway, said she, "Listen to me, nothing bad is going to happen to me, we are safe now." She lightly kissed Cream on her forehead which made Cream roll her eyes.

"I've finally detached the Crimson-Egg. But don't worry I haven't taken all the fuel!" A familiar voice could be heard over the intercom. "Well like I said before, Its been fun kids! Last one home is a rotten egg! Hahahahaha!" "Wait wouldn't you be the rotten egg?" "Shut up you tin brain!"

Cream's eyes widened, "So he's just going to leave us here?"

"Yes but," Amy started, "Chris and Knuckles are almost done. We'll be home in no time." She smiled, a distant, feigning grin laid plain on her face. Done with what? Amy never clarified, it obviously had something to do with the Typhoon, good thing they were finishing, the more they stayed floating in nothingness, the more eerie and irritable everyone had gotten. Understandable, but something more.

It's driving me crazy, I have to know, to know what it is. What do I do what do I say?

"So Amy."

"Yeah Cream?"

"What can I help you with?"

* * *

The planet looked a bit red, a bit rugged and resilient. Although the same could not be said about its inhabitants, or lack thereof. I of course knew all along that he was there, he's weak in this version. I'll still keep my eye on him though. And still, there is not much I can do to prevent what has already been set in motion. Not that I would want to.

It was hard to see, even though the sand had subsided there still was a lot of it in the air. He was on a plateau overlooking what seemed like the entire planet and nothing. By his feet lay an indent on the dirt next to it was a small rock or maybe a metal plate. There was a loud rumble behind him, and it stopped, and then some footsteps.

"Hehe. Something told me you would be here."


	6. Chapter 5: The Second Deadly Sin

**Chapter 5**

**The Second Deadly Sin**

Yes I must say I never liked them, they are full of nothing but greed. They are not worth much to me. I spent a long time with one. Perhaps that is why I loathe them.

"At least we're almost done."

"All I'm saying is, I'm glad we started with the engines, we would have never found out it was a wiring problem."

"Knuckles I'm not arguing with you, I completely agree." As they both talked via radio, the light coming from the welding machine Chris was handling shone brightly to him and Knuckles. The welding hat did not fit Knuckles, it made him look quite goofy since his snout was long.

"Yeah well, I'm just sayin'."

"Oh Knuckles, you are your own worst enemy."

"Well yeah if anyone can beat the crap outta me it's going to be me!" Chris laughed at that and stopped to see his work almost finished. They had been mending the primary, left aileron and had not done a bad job. Even though the ship still looked beat up. They had fixed that, restored power and had managed to figure out how the engines had died. The aileron looked lopsided however, but perfection was not of great importance.

Chris started,"It won't fly straight but at least we won't be out here for much longer."

"Isn't that a relief? I didn't think we'd make it, but I pulled us through it somehow." Chris grinned at Knuckles ferociously while pulling up his helmet.

"I'm joking!"

"Right." The human boy stuck the welder back on his pack, and flew to the depressurizing station. The echidna followed and they both made their way to the mess hall, exhausted.

"Hey, who goes there?" It was a shout that sounded a lot like Vector.

Indifferently Chris responded,"Well, well, if it isn't the walking, talking suitcase." The Chaotix had made a fortress out of tables and chairs and were hiding in the kitchen, using silverware and pots as armor. They looked around at each other confused. "Is that some kinda' jab at me kid?"

"No! Haha well you see, back in my world-"

"I would not explain that if I were you," said Knuckles. "Anyway what are you bozos doing back there anyway?" The two sat down at a nearby, available table.

It was Vector who responded, always stopping Charmy from talking. "Someone has to make sure we don't run out of food. And I took it upon myself to control the rations on this ship."

"Rations? Are you crazy?! We've only been out here three weeks, plus the Typhoon has enough to last us a few more months. Actually now that I think about it, we won't have enough you're right."

"I am? I mean yes, I am Knuckles, thank you."

"Not with you lazy pigs eating all of it!"

"Calm down guys," the boy intervened,"I have a mean headache." Chris tried to bear the weight of his head with his hands while Knuckles and Vector were at each other's throats. What was it even about? All I remember was Helen...and… nothing. The boy looked up, paused, and looked over at his friends. They are just arguing now, that's all it's been. Quarrel after quarrel. He clutched at his chest. How can I feel so… so empty?

* * *

His wide yellow eyelids opened. Where was he? This was the Typhoon, but it felt as if he were back home. What are my surroundings? There they were, a few tables here and there, although he was not sitting down, and neither was she. Wait a minute, I know this place. Automatically the thought ran down his mind, I only wish I could tell her how I feel. "You're so beau-AHH!" He stumbled over himself as she said something about the stars. You idiot! That was your chance. No I can do this, Tails you've got this. He waited for her to finish, "Yeah, actually they aren't what I meant."

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

Tails blushed at the question. His heart beat to an unknown and yet familiar rhythm. What is this I'm feeling? Oh gosh my hands are sweating, what? No focus!

"Actually, I uh… I meant… you." I did it! I... I... what? Why is she? There was no response for a moment, only a concerned stare.

Tails felt like an idiot, but he felt even worse when she started to cry in front of him.

"Hey I didn't mean it! Oh no! I mean I did but, hey what happened?" Tails was hyperventilating. When she looked up all he could see was despair.

"Tails, why can't you see me?" She cried despairingly.

"What? But I'm here now, aren't I?"

"No Tails, don't trust anyone! You can't… not even your friends."

"But why?"

"Because you don't know."

"AHH!" There was a knock on Tail's door. Sweat poured down his face and hands. He felt a pinch in his stomach. He stood up and sat on his bed. He tried to reconstitute himself, but it was to no avail. Who would want to disturb me while I sleep?! He got up ready to show that person a piece of his mind. But the door slid open and he froze, how unexpected. Cream did not look at him, she was clearly upset. Could she be mad still? It's been a few weeks.

"Tails, I just wanted to let you know that we were going to start the show, and that you were invited." She said arms crossed and still not looking at him. Yeah she's mad.

"Uh sure, Um, what show?"

Cream shot an are-you-serious look at Tails, making him pause for a second, it took that long to realize and recover what was left of his manners.

"Cream, what happened that night, when I hit you, I'm-" That was all it took for Cream to raise a hand, then think about what Tails had just said, she let herself wonder for a moment and said," Just forget it, first of all Miles," she put a great emphasis on his name, "I don't care if you go or not, I was just being polite. Secondly, you have no right for what you did to me this entire time." The little girl stormed off and had not waited for a reaction, which only was a queer but defeated look. He did follow her but he kept his distance, he did not want to add any more unnecessary coals to the fire. Odd way of phrasing, he thought.

Tails looked up, Cream looked away. She had been glancing over to him over her shoulder. They kept walking. She stopped abruptly a few times, but kept at a decent pace. Apparently the girl had changed her mind, for she had stopped once more and faced the boy.

"You know what Tails, forget it! I want you to go back," The hot, bright-red covered most of her face. It was obvious that she was holding back tears, "You are the worst friend I've ever had!" Her voice squeaked unintentionally.

Oh gosh… I deserve that. The girl stormed off again and this time, Tails did not follow her, but instead came to his own terms that he was a god-awful, grievous, grim excuse of a living, breathing animal. Quietly he thought these thoughts over and over in his head, thinking of what he should do next. I'm just pathetic, you're pathetic Tails. Your friends don't even want you around. What friends? Just go back. He faced the direction of his room. You mustn't go back. I've got nothing to lose but I'd rather just go back to bed. You have everything to lose. Why am I arguing with myself? If you go back you will die!

Tails was too shocked for thoughts for a moment. That… was a weird thought. Tails stop talking to yourself, you're going crazy. Don't say that, you aren't crazy. Well, A little bit.

"Ahh what is wrong with me? Fine I'll go back!" As he walked on he heard a distant moan coming from close to the mess hall. And then another louder moan. What is that?

"Make way!" "You're going to be fine Charmy, take deep breaths." Vector was the one holding the bee, and had almost bumped into Tails.

"Ohhh! It hurts!" He would scream, holding his striped stomach.

"Is he going to be all right?" Only Chris looked back before they disappeared round a hallway. Tails followed until he reached the hospital wing. The Chaotix had placed Charmy on a bed, and Chris started running tests. The fox entered the room but no one seemed to notice. The human boy started checking his vitals and when he realized everything was normal he went for some liquid mixed with juice, prompting Charmy to drink some for the test. Charmy did as he was told but slowly, he drank six cups of weirdly tasting juice and rested his head back on his pillow. Chris pulled up a white, square block that easily adjusted to where it moved atop the patient. It was about 5 feet wide and he had put it across Charmy's belly to see if there was any progression of a disease. Unfortunately the x-ray-like machine did not show anything, but luckily they had other tests. Tails only watched, wondering what it was that had become of his friend. With the push of a button Chris had managed to split the table asunder from the ground up to carry Charmy to another test, a spherical machine that closed from the outside. Charmy took some convincing from Vector, his boss promised him he would be okay, and Charmy reluctantly agreed.

Tails broke the silence,"What was he doing when this happened?" Vector and Chris looked at Tails and Vector answered,"Nothin', he was just with us." "When was the last time he ate?" "He ate regularly like the rest of us."

"It might be food poisoning," Chris added. "Ya' mean someone poisoned his food?" "No Vector that's a different kind of poisoning." The machine closed and whirred. "All right Charmy, you're doing fine, just close your eyes and breath in deeply. Good, now hold your breath, and breath out. Good." This part took a little while longer, Chris took pictures of Charmy's innards, it made Vector a bit queasy. "Okay Charmy you did great, it looks like you're done. Just one second while the machine turns off. This would take a few minutes to do. The pictures Chris had taken were digital so he had sent them to a holographic screen that kept shivering. Chris and Tails monitored each carefully, Vector and Espio did so as well as to not feel left out. The omnigraphy surrounded not only the small bowel, but all of the intestines, and gave a much clearer picture,(as it is in the name versus an enterography) therefore Chris was able to capture and spot any deformities or outstanding parasite or infections in the bee's entire stomach.

Chris stopped and looked at Tails, "Now I'm no doctor Tails, but I don't see… well anything. I expected even a small abscess surrounding his stomach lining. Nothing." "I don't see anything either. Lets see… nothing in the liver, kidneys. Can you get me a picture of the lungs and heart? What about any inflammation of the spinal cord or brain?" "Luckily I took pictures of everything. Brain functions normal. I have another test for it though." That reminded Tails of her, it made his heart ache, but Chris didn't seem to notice or remember. "There is no herniation or stenosis."

"Guys, something is wrong with Charmy!" The two of them looked up to see that Charmy was convulsing. "Vector get him out of there and hold him so he doesn't hurt himself." Vector did so and waited for the shuddering to lessen. Tears had already formed in his eyes. "C'mon' little buddy," he sniffed,"You can do it." It was tender to see him so emotional, Chris consoled him by telling him it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Tails and Chris did not seem too affected,"That narrows it down, which is good." "Yes, the brain. I'll run that test after he recovers." Chris did notice that time, Tails' jaw was clenched and so were his fists. "Good Idea Chris."

Charmy had been drooling on Vector, not that he cared at the moment, and Chris gave him a towel. Tails brainstormed a bit, "Chris if this is some kind of a brain injury, why would he show signs of abdominal pain?" Chris studied the idea,"Let's not rule out a delayed, shock injury, it might as well be phantom pain caused by it." "That's a good point, I hadn't even thought that since it… was so long ago."

They both looked over to the Chaotix, Espio looked over, concerned, but Vector didn't let him off that easy, he had grabbed Espio and made him hug his team, which he did so. Both Tails and Chris sat down by the study-table. Chris patted him on the shoulder,"He's going to be fine."

"I know."

"Go, they're waiting for you in the auditorium."

"What if you need my help?"

"If I do I'll call you." He smiled, as did Tails.

* * *

The group had already started their show so Tails entered as quietly as possible, he sat at a table close to Cream's. He stared over to her while the party muffled any thoughts he had. Tails first thought of a way to approach her, a way to get her attention, he thought that throwing something at her was a good Idea, until he came to his senses mid-throw. Luckily the napkin he had folded had narrowly missed her. She was alone at her table so it didn't hit anyone else. She knew though, she wasn't stupid. Tails thought of Charmy again, he wondered if he should be more concerned. He noticed Rouge was standing in the doorway, he remembered alright. This isn't her kind of thing. However he was glad to see her. Though two and two together meant that Eggman had left her here. Feeling kind of bad about the whole thing he motioned to her to come sit with him. She did so nonchalantly. Rouge found a chair next to his, quietly she gazed at the dialogue Amy had somehow managed to prepare in a few hours, Sonic had a script in his hand, surprisingly, he wasn't half bad. Rouge looked over to the rabbit, Cream had her arms and head resting on the table, then Rouge looked back at Tails and smiled slyly, all he could do was glumly look back. He put his hand up as if to say something.

"Forget it sweetheart," Rouge whispered," past is past." She smiled again, her surreptitious expressions weren't at all convincing but it would have to do for now. He would make it up to them somehow. A large green crocodile, an almost apathetic echidna and an expressionless, purple chameleon had appeared. They sat around Cream, she hardly noticed they were there. Vector turned back to face Tails, "He's going to be just fine Tails." Tails had never seen Vector smile as genuine. Tails sighed in relief. "Where's the bee?" Rouge asked, another new, genuine, worried look. "Charmy came down with something, apparently he's doing better." "I certainly hope he's doing better." The small audience began clapping. This time Vector got up and shouted at Espio about something. Vector played the piano while Espio tried his very best to dance and sing. It made Amy and Sonic laugh, and even Cream giggle a little.

"What about…" The bat motioned over to Cream. Tails was caught off guard, "Huh? Oh. Yeah. No. No good."

"Hm, who knew a gal needed some space." Rouge joked.

"Yeah."

"Want to make her jealous sugar lips?" Tails blushed at her strange remark and request. "What? What do you mean?" "You'll see." How devilish her smile was. The bat shouted," Boo! Give us something else ya' croc!" Vector was displeased, he raised a clenched fist,"One of deez' days toots! To da' moon!" That made folks crack up, and just as planned, Cream, confused about all of it, looked back. Rouge quickly grabbed the back of Tails head and pushed his head into hers, sending chills into Tails' body. It was sloppy so the bat had to position Tails a little better so he wasn't stuck kissing her cheek. She let him go, him a bit confused still, and mad, and elated, and strange, and mad again, but ultimately elation filled him to the brim. He looked over at Cream realizing what she had just seen him do. She looked back horrified, she covered her face with her long ears. Tails proceeded to make confused sounds. Rouge bit her lip, and got close once again, this time to whisper something in his ear. Which made him giggle loudly and awkwardly. Rouge tried again, giggling herself. "Now we're even. And by the way, yes, I forgive you."

The crowd yelled "Ey's" and "There he is." The doorway presented a hobbling bee and a human boy close to him. Charmy naturally got on stage and grabbed the mic. "Settle down folks, I'll save you from this nonsense." He said pointing at Espio. He started with a bit about the Chaotix office, and the next few jokes were Chaotix specific as well, all mostly about Vector. It was still humorous even though it was incredibly specific. Tails on the other hand was still a bit preoccupied. He did not dare look anywhere but straight. Chris sat next to him. Tails saw Charmy was holding his stomach with one hand. "How's he doing Chris?" Chris shrugged, "All of a sudden he started feeling better, I told him to rest, but he really wanted to come."

When the bee closed, Sonic and Amy got up for the finale, it was a play Tails remembered from his childhood, but he couldn't remember the name of it. He remembered the kiss, and blushed, he remembered Cream and flustered.

No one noticed that under her ears, Cream had not only broken into tears, but had her heart torn as well.

Sonic faced Amy, "Prejudice always obscures the truth, and you know as well as anyone, it takes Courage to stand alone," Sonic paused," when you know it's the right thing to do." He knew that one by heart. Amy's eyes glistened.

Tails looked around, something odd stuck with everyone. They were all smiling, but with sense of doubt was it? Or maybe just sadness, it was almost palpable. Tails looked harder, it was their eyes. They all looked… hungry. Famished as if they had not eaten in weeks. That was impossible though. But each and every one of them? Maybe it was just a tired look. The lights in the auditorium flickered for a second and turned off. The gang looked up, and sat quietly and motionless, even Cream looked up. No one said a word. They only waited for the lights to go back on. Knuckles and Chris looked at each other, Knuckles face-palmed.

"Don't panic everyone, we'll fix it." Chris got up. There was a sudden trembling wave that surmounted everything for a moment and then everyone. And then a loud sound, the loudest they had ever heard possibly. They all fell onto the ground, Amy fell from the auditorium, and Sonic was not able to catch her, he had fallen next to her. They tried covering their ears but somehow the sound still traveled through their hands, it seemed as if their heads might implode.

The ship shook violently, and twisted. Somehow the gravity in the ship was damaged, making everything look lopsided. Then another bang, even louder than before shook their stomachs and everything that made them up inside. They clenched their teeth tight, and screamed in pain.

Tails looked around, he only saw shapes. Shapes of what appeared to be his friends. His eyes felt fuzzy and itchy. And he only heard a ring, but it was louder in his right ear. He tried to talk but there was nothing he could say. "Guys?" There was still no sound. Where's Cream? It was all he could think for what seemed to be the longest time. A familiar shape took hold of him, he was still on the ground for some reason. He could not move. The familiar shape tried to hold him up but it did no good. The shape stopped, and made peculiar movements, while still looking at him. Tails tried to get up again, he then felt his legs numb. Oh no, my feet have fallen asleep, great!

Tails tried to explain that it was funny to him that at a time like this his feet numbed. Again, only muffled grumbles were heard. The ringing got louder and louder.

"Guys come quickly!"

More shapes came, surrounding him. What's all the fuss about? Wait Cream, I need to find Cream.

"Mm, mmm… rrmm… rem, … reem, k-rem."

As soon as he wished it, it came true, a tanned shape came to his rescue. He knew she was alright, she had to be. The ringing lessened in sound. And he could hear other sounds, loud and obnoxious. The shapes became outlines, and the outlines became orifices. Tails stood up, wobbly in his attempt. Cream grabbed him with a queer look in her. His legs still hurt, why are my legs so hurting? Wait what? Why my legs hurt.. why legs hurt my? Cream, she is there. Why she is … crying? Why are you … crying? Hey, Cream? Everyone looked so confused, Cream tried to comfort him but she stayed her distance, as if touching him would make him crumble to the ground. Someone asked, "What's going on?" Arr.. are we.. in trouble? Cream why … why don't you … answer me? Cream would not stop looking at him, but she was not looking at him, she was looking at something on him. Tails looked down, it was odd but he figured it was something stuck on him. He tried to move it, which made everyone jump at him, terrified. They all talked amongst each other while others tried to talk to Tails. He didn't understand them and looked down again. Something else was on him, it was sticky and protruding from him. Eww and it's red too. Wait… that doesn't look good.

As Tails realized that a metal plate was lodged deep in his side, he tried to say," oom! 'nic, 'nic! P-p..'nic r- r.. oom, room! P-anic R-oom!"


	7. Chapter 6: The Demon In Our Midst

**Chapter 6**

**The Demon in Our Midst**

**Section II**

Outside of the massive courtroom was a smaller library filled with all history of every existence. The Vivliothi̱kários was in charge of maintaining the books and obsequious mementos of time. Even if the cathedral was taller, the library still had humongous cream colored pillars that extended to the very most top of it. Not many came in here anymore, since the scares started. The timeless woman thought that sad, it was her job to keep the books, but if no one read them, then what was the point of having any? The ancient woman was tired, her hands had started to shake again. She looked around to see a familiar face.

"Ah my boy, it has been too long." Her face gladdened, but she could not smile for she had no mouth. Pushing her silver robes out of the way. She extended her arms to the great Mercy. Mercy greeted her, but it surprised him, as always, that the Ancient One was hugging him, beings never did that, she did that all the time.

"Thank you Vi." The Anthropomorphic being lightly pushed the librarian away.

"What is the matter my boy," The librarian looked concerned.

Éleos took a deep breath, annoyed at the old One's words, and sighed. "Vi," he sighed again. Now the librarian really was worried, she motioned for them to sit down near a pillar of books. She pulled up two granite chairs and he started again, "Vi, I have to make a decision, a very important decision."

"Yes, well, what is it?" The librarian focused all of her attention and feelings on her friend. Mercy started, but thought hard on what to ask exactly, he stopped himself multiple times. "When you were alive…" "Here we go again," The librarian had heard this before. "But listen. How, how were you chosen?"

The librarian looked over past Mercy, and then back at him. "That's the question everyone wants to know, but it… isn't right."

"Please, I need to hear this."

The librarian looked at her friend in sadness but in trust. "All right. Sacrifice. That is all it takes my friend." The librarian embraced herself by putting her long, pointed hands and fingers on her chest. "I caused the Death of countless innocents. My very own people, and I was in a semi-conscious state. I tell myself so often, that I, that I could have done something more. I should not have been chosen to begin with."

Mercy looked terrified, "And how did you pass to the other side?"

"Luckily I had taught my student well." She embraced herself again, there was a big scar on her chest.

"So the decision was already made for you. How did your student know what to do?"

"You weigh the outcome in an instant, you act, not foolishly, not rashly, but strategically." A being like the librarian interrupted them, he had similar robes only he was taller. "Master Mercy," the being bowed lightly, "Filanthro̱pía has requested an audience with you."

"Thank you, Enóti̱ta." Mercy bowed back in respect, and left them both hurriedly.

The librarian spoke, "It is wonderful to have you visit too." Enóti̱ta was happy. "How is he?" The Librarian continued.

"Your student?" He teased. "I can't see him anymore, but I can feel him still. He is under much duress. Do not worry, he will always be a part of me. He will do great things." The librarian tried to find consolation in those words.

Filanthro̱pía had been waiting for Mercy right outside the cathedral.

"Master Mercy," She bowed graciously. "You did well in there." She also smiled devilishly.

"Are you insane?!" He grabbed her and they hid in a corner. "If they found out about us…!" She reached for Mercy and they both shared in an intimate kiss. She stopped, "It was last minute, besides I wanted to see you." "It's not safe anymore." "I am to advise you that all preparations are made ready."

Mercy looked at his lover with longing. "Fi, I thank you." They started another session again. When they had enough of embracing each other.

Fi broke the silence again,"What is your decision, oh generous One," she teased, "If I may inquire."

"I am troubled by my thoughts and possible outcomes, I can't see far enough."

"You haven't failed us yet oh mighty One."

"Stop."

"What is it?" She asked impatiently. "There is no one here."

"I thought we were going to do this together."

She was annoyed with him, "This is the only way your counterpart, or whatever you want to call him, will fill Moíra's old spot. If my counterpart succeeds, I won't have to go anywhere."

"I understand that, but, I can't do this without you."

She responded,"I thought this is what we wanted, if anything happens to me, it's worth the wait."

"You don't understand. I've been weakened by that so called time traveler. And when you and I bond I become stronger, being away will just slow that process."

"Don't you see," She began to tease again, "This is a test. We are the lovers from the Augury, Agapó̱ and Misó̱, Love and Hate, we will endure."

Mercy rolled his eyes," I can't believe you believe in that nonsense."

"I think it's adorable. Our love is undoubted and Inexorable and we will succeed."

"I hope you're right."

"I know I'm right." She smiled as they kissed again. "Then when will you proclaim your coming?"

"It all depends. When is the next council meeting?"

"Actually, it's been postponed."

"What?! Why wasn't I informed?"

"No one was. But I can feel the Master's presence."

"You mean He is coming? Oh no."

* * *

"Duck!" The gang narrowly missed a part of debris, unfortunately Chris was not so lucky. The debris had hit him square on the head. "Chris!" Since he was concussed he did not move. "Quick, Vector help him!" They made their way through the doorway, following an injured Tails to Gods know where. They were all frantic when Tails stumbled over something, they did not want him to injure himself even more. They stopped in a white hallway and hid under some stairs. Tails tried to show them a map of the typhoon with his hands, but was more than unsuccessful. It hurt Tails to crouch so he stood, and they continued forward not knowing if Tails was too delusional to guide them. Tails might as well have been but what he did know for sure is that the ship had three different panic rooms, and he was getting close to one.

Sonic did not scout ahead, he only helped Cream with Tails to move along. They still kept hearing explosions, smaller than the ones before. And what caused them lay up ahead. All that was left to tread was a hallway that lead to the reactor room.

They heard the others, so they ducked around another set of stairs, others inside rooms. They spoke in tongues heard of by only the deceased. Their eyes shined only with deathifying stares, soulless they were. They moved in shadow and in darkness. Some were different though, they walked and had shades of carmine splattered across their faces and bodies.

"Knuckles and I can handle them, you get Chris and Tails to safety." As Sonic gave the command, others agreed and waited for their go. But really they were waiting on Tails, wondering if he could handle himself, considering that there was a huge chunk of metal stuck on him. It was strange that it hadn't even phased him till now, he only barely started to bear the weight of it on his body.

"Don't look at me like that! It's just a scratch," he whispered loudly. It obviously wasn't a scratch, maybe Tails still hadn't figured that out yet. "This is it, people. Get ready to run." The opportunity finally opened itself through the distraction Knuckles and Sonic had made. "Go!" Quickly they sped down the hallway and into the spacious room. When they entered, all eyes were on them. The creatures even stopped attacking Sonic and Knuckles, and they charged at Tails and the gang.

"Quickly! Into the wall!" They sped rapidly to the closest wall. "Uh, Tails? This is just an ordinary wall!" "Out of the way!" Tails bumped the wall a few times in a pattern.

"Stay back!" Espio pulled out a few stars from out of nowhere. Directly hitting one of the slithering shadows headed for them, only the shadow absorbed them. Rouge joined the fight as well standing alongside Espio. "Get back here cowards!" The echidna yelled, but the creatures paid no attention to him, twisting in odd shapes and hitting and biting at Espio and Rouge.

A keypad emerged from within the wall, Tails pressed '26766' and the wall opened revealing a small white room. "C'mon guys, we don't have all day!" Tails looked over to Sonic, he took a blow and was on the ground trying to get up. Espio chopped his way through some shadows and Rouge managed to knock out some of the meatier monsters. "We don't have time for this!" Tails ran as fast as he could and helped Sonic up. Tails looked around, a medium sized monster was in between them and the panic room. "Tails go, I'll hold them off." Tails looked at his friend. "I'm not leaving you here."

The creature swung, luckily they both dodged. It tried again, same outcome. "Tails no!" The fox looked over, it was Cream making her way towards him. Oh no. The creature swung again and hit Tails where his wound was, dislodging the metal from his body. Everything stopped for a moment, now Tails could feel all the pain he should have experienced a few minutes ago. He spat out blood when he landed on the floor. Cream laid her hands on her mouth, she gasped loudly. "Tails?!" Cream stopped mid-battle. With one hand around his stomach and with the other trying to lift Tails up, Sonic stopped, and looked at the creature, who had an even crazier look on his face. A face of horror, the creature's eyes widened and looked up at Sonic, it ran as fast as it could down the hall. "Wha...? Uh,... Uh... Cream! C'mere!" She would not budge, and another creature approached her. "Cream!" She only looked at Tails in dismay and disbelief. Only a second closer and the creature would have her, only Knuckles got there first and punched the creature out of sight. "Let's go! You guys! We'll find another way!"

"That's my queue," Rouge grabbed Espio and she slammed the door controls making them disappear in the walls." The remaining creatures hit the wall, trying to find a way in. Knuckles grabbed Cream, and Sonic carried Tails which made him bleed all over him. "Where to Tails? Tails?! Stay with me buddy." He coughed, "C-abin." The boy whispered.

Knuckles responded,"Great, that's only an elevator away!"

"You're doin' fine buddy, we are almost there."

They made their way out and in the hallway again, Sonic in the front and Knuckles in the back, giving Cream a view of the dying fox. "T-Tails?" She would ask often. However he could not respond. The only thing that made its way out of Tails' mouth was red, sticky saliva, which stuck to Sonic's fur.

"Too Late!" The monsters had made their way in front of them. "How many of these are there?"

"Quickly in here!" Sonic signaled Knuckles to enter an unoccupied room filled with miscellaneous objects. Sonic slammed the door with his body, "Mind giving me a hand Knux?"

"Sure thing," he slid a table across the room to bar the door-that gave Sonic a chance to lay Tails gently next to Cream. The other two sat in front of the barred door.

"Phew, what now?"

"Tails."

The boy did not move, Cream lifted his head and placed him on her lap. Sonic crawled to where he was, and wondered if it was too late to apply pressure. "Look." Knuckles observed, Tails was moving his hand and pointing at something on the wall. Sonic looked over,

"Perfect, that's convenient." He got up and grabbed a first aid pack that hung from a rung on the wall. He opened it and grabbed a few rolls of tied up gauze, undid them and applied a bunch on the massive wound, which started from his right side and ended in the middle of his stomach.

"Ahh!"

"Take it easy."

"S-Sonic?"

"Yes Cream?"

"Is- h-he going to make it?" Cream asked between sniffs.

Sonic was not so sure, but he tried to stay positive. "Yes Cream."

As tense as they all were, they took a moment to relax. "Hey," It was Knuckles, "What happened back there?"

Sonic responded, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You hesitated."

"I gave it my best."

"I've seen your best pal, that wasn't it."

"Maybe, Knuckles." There was a slam on the door, they knew where they were. All manner of noises surrounded them, even outside the ship.

"What's the plan then?"

"Let me think." Knuckles was pushed forward from them slamming on the door. "Think faster!" A sharp tentacle flew past near Knuckles head and then another sliding across his arm. He growled and managed to roll out of the way before the door was blown into. The creatures eyes glared at Tails, they swept in the room, uninvited, malignant horrors. Just then there was a loud crackle and a pop. The beast closest to Tails hit the floor with another crack. The remaining shadows made their way through small cracks out of the room. But the tangible creature that was left stood helpless as another crackle went through his body, making this one shriek in pain and fall, revealing their rescuer: a bright, minted-colored hedgehog.

"Hurry, there's no time!" He waved at the others in the room to follow. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They quickly followed the stranger to the remainder of the hallway and around the corner which there was, the elevator. They both stared at their savior in confusion. Ding. The elevator door opened and they climbed in, and with the push of a button it sent all of them flying up. Who is this guy? Sonic thought, however he was grateful. Another ding. They made their way out of the elevator and scanned the room, no enemies here.

"Tails where to now?" The boy pointed at his captain's chair and they set him on it. He painfully pressed his thumb on a pad near the arm of the chair, smearing blood on it. Cream watched from the sidelines as Tails did that, still shocked.

Swiftly the floor where they stood opened up and swallowed them whole, sending them down a tube that lead to the panic room. They all landed either on their faces or behinds. Regrettably this had opened Tails' wound even more and he bled profusely on the white floor. All members of the Blue Typhoon helped in some way to help Tails, and make him feel more comfortable. But he just lay dying. Amy had her hands on his stomach and she looked up, "He's lost way too much blood." "What do we do?" Just when all hope was lost, a spark of hope remained. And this spark motioned to the others to step aside as he kneeled in front of Tails. The stranger looked at the light that remained in Tails' eyes, he saw that it faded, that he had already given up. The stranger slapped him across his face making everyone else jump. "Listen! Your friends still need you!" The boy's eyes narrowed, he could only see the stranger in front of him. "Your time is not now." The stranger made a quiet promise, his eyes met with Tails'. Promptly, the stranger's hands began to glow immensely, some stared until the light hurt their eyes and they looked away. And before long the light diminished, and it showed a coughing Tails next to a bright stranger.

"Tails!" The friends cried, and embraced the boy. The only one that stayed out of the love circle was Rouge, who only looked at the stranger. He was smiling, even a tear trickled down his face. "How did you..?"

"How can we ever repay you... uh?"

"No need. Call me Éleos."


	8. Chapter 7: Under Your Nose

**Chapter 7**

**Under Your Nose**

"Shadow?"

"Stay back! Ahh!" The black hedgehog stood frozen and defenseless.

"Mission Completed."

The ship rumbled, it made Rouge wake up, "Ugh, I must have dozed off." She sat up, it was dark but her sight was better than most. She could see the Chaotix huddled together in a corner of the room, Amy and Sonic were huddled as well, Cream and Tails, even Knuckles snug tight next to her. She looked around for the so called Éleos. He was sitting on the opposite side of the room.

The room wasn't too big, not too small. It had its own kitchen and other supplies to last them a few weeks. This gave the stranger room for privacy. The bat got up, lightly setting Knuckles' head down. He mumbled something obscure as she did. She walked over to the mysterious hedgehog.

"Whatcha got there stranger?" She whispered. She noticed Éleos was grasping a shiny red stone. It was the size of his thumb. She wondered if she could get it from him, still not knowing what it was. The stranger jumped.

"Ah, good morning, Um. I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you." He inquired politely.

"It's Rouge, and good morning to you too." She returned the pleasure not looking anywhere else but at the stone.

Éleos looked back at his hand, "Oh, this old thing. Someone, uh, special, gave this to me."

"You don't say." Rouge's eyes were transfixed, and then disappointed when he put the stone away.

"Have you one of those?"

"Hm, what?"

The stranger smiled, "I mean do you have someone special?"

The bat thought of Knuckles, and then thought of Shadow. "Yeah, something like that." She told him sarcastically and yet with mild seriousness.

"The ship shakes and yet I do not sense them anymore. The creatures of shadow I mean. Perhaps it is time." As soon as the stranger got up Rouge followed, they took the elevator in the wall. As the elevator took them up Rouge waited for the stranger to spring something on her, she was ready for it. No one's that good and doesn't want something in return. When the doors opened they peered out only to see nothing. The Typhoon was just as lifeless as before. Both Rouge and Éleos checked the reactor room, and adjacent rooms, still nothing.

"Maybe we should tell the others," the bat spoke.

"Agreed, just to be on the safe side though, I'll check the rest of the ship." Rouge nodded and went back in the elevator. She pressed another button, then another rumble, maybe the ship was settling, if there was such a thing. I can't believe Eggman left me with these losers. She looked over to Knuckles and smiled, especially this one. She noted that they were all still sleeping, except for the bunny girl. She was clutching the now-not-dying fox. Cute. At that she rested her head on Knuckles and folded her hands neatly on her chest. She dozed off again.

* * *

"You don't understand. She is out there, I've seen it."

"Who's going to protect us? What about me?"

"This is much bigger than you and me right now. I have to do this for me and for Maria! I will know who I am by the end of this."

"Promise me, p-promise you will come back."

"Wake up."

* * *

"Why help us then?"

"In truth, I was charged to protect the Inventor," Éleos pointed at Tails, who was next to Cream, sitting on the captain's chair, in the bridge.

"You keep using this word "Inventor", yeah we all know he is. And by who exactly?"

"It's whom Knuckie," Rouge corrected.

"Oh you can drive me so batty sometimes."

"Ha. Ha. Don't make me laugh."

"That is what we call him. We are a political sect of extremists, we care for all beings' rights holding them responsible for their actions. I am only here to make sure that he is safe from harm's way."

Being the mouthful that it was, it took a second for it to be taken in. "I know it can be confusing, but in due time all will be revealed. In fact there are others your people should have met with. I believe he goes by Wisdom in your tongue." The response was more confused glares.

"We don't know anyone by that name."

"But how can this be? Something must have gone wrong." Éleos looked down and mused. "I must find him as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, we'll help you find your friend." It was Sonic.

"Thank the heavens. I knew these were the adventurers talked about in writing."

* * *

"You can't! You just can't! Please, you, you're going to make it I promise."

"No… Ngh! It's, too late for me. Y-you know, I was wrong about -."

"Stop it please!"

"She can stop him…"

"What?! Who?!"

* * *

Both Sonic and Knuckles inspected the crime scene, and at the rubble that was the Master Emerald.

"Other than that creature who ran from me, there's something I still don't understand Knux."

"What's that?"

"Why would they not even touch the Master Emerald?"

* * *

Chris and Tails had finally set a course for the Typhoon, and finally it was moving towards the nearest, safest planet they knew they would be able to find help. And hopefully some fuel to make it back to Mobius.


	9. Chapter 8: One Thousand Versions

**Chapter 8**

**One Thousand Versions**

"Tails? Mommy!" Cream leapt from her bed yelling. She was sweating. Not again. She checked her sheets about a thousand times before thinking, Phew. Good. Saving the galaxy from the malicious Dark Oak, and the trauma from both previous battles only made the dream worse. Luckily nothing else. I'm glad that the stranger came to us when he did. But why did he come to me first? Why not help us then? She sat up on her bed, the room was not as dark as before. Why don't I go ask him that myself?

Cheese lay at the end of the bed quietly. And quietly Cream scurried over to him, "I'll be back," she whispered and delicately kissed the blue Chao.

Other than being more on edge, and having part of the ship blown away-in fact the men's rooms were completely gone from the explosions- the ship really hadn't changed all that much. It was still creepy, and dead silent. It wasn't lively anymore which was the sad part. If only there was something more this little girl could have done. Maybe she could go back in time and stop herself from not stopping -. That would be preposterous though, wouldn't it?

Maybe you should ask him that yourself. Why don't you mess everything else up while you're at it!

Excuse me.

This had been right where she had first met him, right outside the ship, close to one of the artificial trees on the runway. And there he was, sitting? Kneeling as a matter of fact. He was actually talking to himself, Cream only heard some of it.

"...the last time. The Old God is dead, and you'll be sorry you cross me, just like he did." Éleos sensed the girl right behind him. "Curses. Let's try that again."

* * *

Even the artificial trees looked duller than before, all charred up. Cream could see the stranger now as she walked outside the ship. This was the spot where they met at first. He was Kneeling.

"...just like he did." Éleos did not turn around. "It's impolite to sneak up on folks."

"I'm sorry," Cream apologized. "Who were you talking to?"

"Actually I was in the middle of praying."

Cream froze,"Oh! I'm so sorry."

Éleos smiled, "No need. Come." Cream sat next to the kneeling hedgehog. "What is it you need from me my dear?"

The question had caught the rabbit off guard,"Uh, hm. Why did you appear to me, first? Why couldn't you just help us? And help Tails before?"

"Something told me you would ask that. I simply needed you to trust me. Maybe I could have shown my loyalty by warning you ahead of time. And you did wonderfully, you got everyone away from their respective rooms." This answer made Cream cringe fearfully. "What's the matter?"

The girl put her hands on her face,"I told Tails… to go back." The stranger had his full attention on her. "I could have…" The girl wouldn't dare finish her sentence.

"Little Cream, he is safe now and so are you." He parted her hands from her face, "See, that's better." She stared deep into the stranger's eyes, they were soft, and full of mystery. His eyes were a piercing green, almost like the ones Sonic and Amy had. She put his trust in him, he was telling the truth. She stayed with him a little longer, until she worried for Tails.

"Do you want to come with me?" Honestly Cream didn't want to go alone, the dark hallways made her uneasy at times.

"Well I, quite frankly I'm just a hitchhiker to them, I don't fit in very well." Only the truth again.

"C'mon, Tails will be happy to see you."

"If you say so malady."

They both made their way to the hospital wing. Fortunately this part of the Typhoon had not been blown into. They caught Tails looking at one of the machines.

"Oh hey you guys." He responded to them coming in unannounced.

"Tails! You're supposed to be in bed." Cream reproached, hands on her waist.

"Cream I'm fine now, besides it doesn't hurt anymore." He checked his scar on his side, moving around a bit to show her. "See?"

"I just don't want you straining yourself Tails." She made her way to him and held him.

"Aw Cream. Thanks." He embraced her as well, blushing himself.

Éleos looked at the scene sadly.

Tails looked over to the stranger. "Hey, I never had the chance to thank you." The fox approached him. It was odd to have another hedgehog on board. He shook his hand, "Thanks, for saving my life back there."

"It is the least I can do. You most likely have many questions for me. Questions about you." He said excitedly.

"Yes as a matter of fact."

Éleos began but was interrupted, "In due time evidently. We are close to your planet Marmolim."

At that the intercom screeched,"Brace for a hard landing everyone." It was Christopher.

Tails spoke as they made their way to the bridge, "Finally something other than space."

"Tell me about it."

* * *

The chaotix had heard stories of this planet, and they wanted to join in on the fun. They went with the Sonic team.

The Marmolian's economy had once thrived in intergalactic fortune telling. It wasn't exactly the best vacation spot though, a lot of it used to be desert. But ever since the planet egg returned, there had been pockets of water seen from orbit.

Tails remembered the fortune that had been given to -, it told of death in her haste. He cursed the planet under his breath as they walked around the not-so-busy kiosks.

Amy broke the silence,"Lue! Lylem! Momo? Where is everyone?" Not a single soul was in attendance other than the Sonic team. "Maybe they are in their palace." Sonic shrugged.

"All of them?" Éleos wondered, staring at the pink palace. It had a golden star in the middle of the lintel.

"Then let's go talk to Ghana, and see what's going on."


	10. Chapter 9: Blood Brother

**Chapter 9**

**Blood Brother**

The once noisy, busy streets and kiosks that were filled with Marmolians, was now reduced to empty trinkets and lost memories. Sonic, Amy and Chris lead the team to the pink palace, followed by Rouge, Éleos, Tails, Cream and Cheese, followed by Knuckles, Vector, Espio and Charmy. They passed tables filled with cards, carts with foot ointments and all manner of charms. They were a flamboyant species. It was rare to see a color repeat itself. The palace wasn't too far now.

The pink hedgehog held Sonic close to her,"Um Sonic? You don't think something happened to them do you?" She did not look at him for she was busy looking at the now decrepit sight that once was Marmolim.

"There's only one way to find out."

The middle group stopped,"Why don't we split up? We'll cover more ground that way." It was Rouge.

"Good Idea." Éleos backed up. The group stopped momentarily and Sonic addressed them,"Alright if you think so. We'll meet back here in an hour or so." Everyone agreed, team Sonic entered the palace, team Rouge stayed at the kiosks, and team Chaotix followed on and found some small houses.

"Look." Rouge pointed out, "It's a ship." She was pointing at an old ship, it made up part of a kiosk where apparently they sold love charms. The ship was bigger and it seemed to go in deeper through a large crack on its bottom. As Rouge entered she looked back at the rest,"Aren't you kids coming?" She laughed and went in. The rest followed, what they saw they probably expected, it was a torn ship that had three different levels. It was turned on its side which made it queer to walk through. Éleos went on after Rouge while Cream reached for Tails' arm. He accommodated and they both went together.

"Do you think they are alright Tails?" Followed by a quiet,"Chao, chao."

"I'm sure they are Cream." Tails winced, he felt his scar opening, but when he looked down it was nothing. Tails looked at the wall, and what was hanging there was a poorly drawn figure of two Marmolians and a smaller one. "A family used to live here." Tails said unhappily. He did not want to believe that the Metarex had gotten there too, or even their new enemies.

Up ahead Rouge searched for any personal belongings in a drawer next to a bed. "C'mon work with me here." The bat rummaged through more belongings making a mess. "Ah, here we are. Hello beautiful." She pulled out a string with a single, shiny, white rock attached to it. "These Marmolians sure have, well some taste in jewelry." Rouge pulled the object closer to her, admiring only the rock and her sneaky ways.

"That doesn't belong to you."

"Waa?" Rouge turned around, "Oh it's only you. What can I say? It's mine now." Éleos was not amused.

"You don't know if they will be back, plus it probably has some importance to these good people."

"Finders keepers' darlin'."

"Put it down Rouge."

This the bat did hear and turned over to the minted hedgehog. "Listen here bub, I don't have to listen to you. Who are you anyway? Coming on our ship? Telling us what to do. Hm!"

"One could say the same to you. I refuse to fight with you over something so subservient such as this." He extended his hand. Rouge looked over the threshold. The other two had just walked in, and probably heard the whole thing.

"Fine take it. It was in poor taste anyway." The white bat stormed off, pushing Éleos while doing so. Éleos sighed, with the rock he set it gently in its place. Cream and Tails both noticed the kind act. The hedgehog did not turn around to see them both, "I hope they are safe." He clenched his smooth, red, stone in his hand. It began to pulsate from red to white.

* * *

"Look at me Espio!" Charmy spooked Vector for a second with an indigenous mask. The mask had no eyes or eye-socket openings, nor did it have a mouth either, which made it particularly spooky, it only showed two dangly horns.

"Quit foolin' around Charmy, we got us a job to do."

"Sheesh, tough crowd. Hey look at this!"

"Anybody home?" Espio would say that each time they moved into a different home. The walls and structures of the houses looked pretty much the same, made out of either clay or even rock. They appeared smooth and made a circular shape on the outside. At times the Chaotix had to crouch to move since the Marmolians were so small.

Knuckles had gone to another nearby town in fact.

They stopped for a moment in the middle of what seemed to be the town center, which had a semi-large fountain with beautiful sculptures of some animals they were not familiar with. Espio spoke right to Vector,"What do you think happened here?"

"Well as you can see, all of their belongings are left in their houses, therefore if they were invaded, it wouldn't make sense because there really was no sign of struggle."

"Odd. And quite perceptive boss."

"Of course it is. That's why I'm the boss."

"So if not an invasion, then what?"

"That's what I'm tryin' to think Espio."

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Both Vector and Espio ran to Charmy who was in a larger building close to the fountain, it looked like a chapel or town hall. The bee was standing outside the threshold with another door halfway opened. He pointed at something at the ground. Upon further inspection a small trail of black ooze could be found leading all the way in the edifice. With two fingers the crocodile pressed the ooze and put it up to his nose.

"What is it?" Espio asked.

"No smell."

"What? Let me smell!" The bee almost covered his face with the stuff. They entered the hall and followed the trail which lead to a closed closet door.

Charmy piped up nervously,"Uhh! You go first!"

"Quiet Charmy!" Vector came first then Espio and Charmy. When they crept next to the door they paused for what appeared to be the longest time. Slowly and anxiously Vector grabbed for the door, to reveal a black creature. It was dying. A pool of black ooze seeped from within it and formed a puddle around itself. It breathed heavily and noisily. Its eyes were yellow and mouth gaped open. A smear of red skin lay on its chest, the rest of the body was more of a grayish black. Vector tried to shut up Charmy for making nervous sounds in the background. Vector snatched a pan that the bee had been conveniently holding. He neared the creature with the pan.

"H-Hello?" The creature made no indication it knew they were there. But when the crocodile got close enough it grabbed his arm with one quick movement. The creature was strong and it spoke in a strange accent not heard by anyone in millenia. The sound it formulated from its gaping bloody mouth was a simple,"Doon't Loook. Seeee." The creature gave its last breath. Before long no more blood seeped and its eyes dulled.

* * *

"This place gives me the creeps."

"You said it Chris."

"I'd rather not stay here that long," Amy clung to Sonic as if there was no more tomorrow. She noticed the hedgehog was trembling. "Are you cold?"

"Uh, no." The palace was a lot different than the outside, it actually looked like it had been ransacked. Precious pots were strewn in pieces all over the clear floor. Drapes were decorated around stairs. Tables even occupied rooms. Instead of having colorful rooms they were disgusting shapes of hues and other miscellaneous shades. The more they walked the cloudier, and hotter it seemed to get.

"What about up there?" Amy asked, and they looked up at what must have been Ghana's personal quarters. They took to the stairs, their eyes fogged up, but there was no smoke. When they made it Amy gasped loudly, there was a blue, blood stain on the wall behind a desk. Adjacent to was a knocked over shelved library.

The three stared blankly at the stain. "Look around for anything, any clues will help." They kept at full attention and retention. Sonic looked all around the large desk, but opening and closing the drawers helped nothing. Until he noticed on top of the desk there was a metallic switch, so he did what any reasonable hedgehog would do and switched it.

Along came a hologram on the far wall, it was hard to see because of a misplaced drape. It quickly changed so the entire room was a hologram. The other two stopped and saw. It was Ghana. The small Marmolian had pressed a button under his desk. He spoke to a stranger that the hologram did not pick up on the other side of the recording space.

"All was done according to plan, as you said. The blue hedgehog and his friends suspect nothing."

"Job well done my friend. But," He paused and walked in the room, his face was not visible still for he was wearing a cloak, "It seems that you have left out one little detail." The stranger grabbed a drink from Ghana's desk and helped himself.

"I assure you the deed was done."

"No my friend, it is not that. My sources tell me you have been harboring Black Arms fugitives."

The Marmolian was speechless for a moment,"I, I assure you these are only rumors my lord."

"Oh really? Then how do you explain this, Ghana you filth!?" The stranger was holding a single ring.

Sonic Interrupted,"What?"

The stranger backhanded the old man. It sent him flying to the wall where he grunted in pain. He pleaded for his life,"My lord I swear even if this were true, we would not have known it was him. The stranger looked at him in shock still.

"You dare lie to me still?!" It was a meaty punch to the face this time.

"My lord, please have mercy on my people."

"Mercy? Mercy?!" The stranger laughed maniacally." Oh Ghana, you pathetic backwash of an animal." At this the stranger took off his cloak and revealed a familiar physique.

Chris interrupted this time, "Is that Shadow?" Upon further inspection the creature resembled Shadow in many ways, but it was lighter than him. He had blues instead of blacks, and he wore no shoes or gloves, he still had red though, but splattered on his head and body.

A confused Ghana spoke,"Y-Y-You… It can't be… Ékleipsi̱?"

"You will suffer with the rest of them!"

"Please no, no! NO!"

The hologram turned off,"I've seen enough of this," It was Sonic. "And I'll give you three hints of where he is." The blue blood trailed to an adjacent room. Sonic, Amy and Chris followed. And when they opened the door, Ghana was not the only one they found.

Sonic held his mouth with his hand, as did Amy who ran from the room. Chris stared in shock, when he looked back all the others were there.

But Sonic would not allow anyone to go any further, "Don't let the kids see!" He pushed everyone away.

When they left the planet, there were ten lonesome, three lost, two out of place, two misplaced, three dead.

End of Part 1


	11. Chapter 10: What Do The Rest Of Us Do

**Finally It's here! Thanks for being patient. Release for Part 3 should be around Nov 27.**

**Part 2**

**The Hunt**

**Chapter 10**

**What Do The Rest Of Us Do**

Having had a considerable amount of time to brood-a few weeks to be precise- the crew of the Blue Typhoon would be disbanded. A vacation was much in order. Not Sonic or Amy or even Chris talked about what they saw. Leaving the desolate planet with a strong feeling of ineptitude wasn't exactly their style-but what more could they do? On the other hand, home never felt sweeter. And this little planet was ripe for the taking. Mobius they called it, filled with oceans, forests, and deserts, but more importantly, people.

The adventurers were inhabitants of the Acorn Kingdom (friendly with all kingdoms except the Iron Kingdom and the Kingdom of Knottingham), located west of their continent. Most of them living in houses near the coast. Anything east of the continent was a kingdom known as the Dragon Empire (friendly with all kingdoms except the Golden Hive Kingdom and the Iron Kingdom), south(another kingdom and continent) was the Golden Hive (friendly with all kingdoms except the Dragon Empire and the Iron Kingdom). The land north was Eggman controlled, or so he proclaimed (friendly to no one). He never much stayed there, besides there not being much of anything there. The floating Angel Island stayed immobile atop the west, miles south from where they lived. An ocean over to the east was the Knottingham Kingdom, (similar to that of the people of Acorn)(friendly with the Iron Kingdom/ Golden Hive/ Dragon Empire), off the coast of the fair peoples' Knottingham was Albion-the ancient ruins of the first recorded echidnas. On the same continent as Knottingham and rest of, there was the massive Kingdom of Iron (friendly to only Knottingham/ rumors had it they plotted with the devious Doctor Eggman). A whole continent and a half to the south-west, was an adjacent continent known as Down-unda. This was where most of the echidna population moved after the forgotten wars. (The echidnas were neutral in the Iron Wars). Its capital city was the rebuilt city of Echidnopolis. (The old city could be found in ruins scattered atop Angel Island).

The Typhoon landed in its birthing hole a few miles from Tails' home, apparently all land owned by a previous Prower. The ship rumbled, the landing felt more like a crash. A large quantity of debris fell in the cave next to the ship. Not only was it not much to look at, but it was no longer practical to fly the ship. Tails planned to decommission the ship soon enough, but not now, he wanted to lay on his bed and do nothing. The friends parted ways after meeting outside the hangar, leaving an awful taste in their mouths. Each went to their individual homes. Cream politely invited Éleos over for dinner and he obliged and said he would join her later that evening.

"Now remember, if you follow the trail that leads to the castle, it will take you to a small town called Thumbnut. Our house is the one in the forest to the left of the town. Amy will you be coming too?"

"No Cream, not tonight."

Sonic handed a small bag to Knuckles,"Oh? What's this?"

"It's a thank you, for lending them." He thanked, not giving a care in the world.

Knuckles opened the bag, it contained three of the Chaos Emeralds. While he stuffed the shards of the Master Emerald inside, he said,"Those were mine to begin with pal. I hope Shadow has better luck with the rest of them."

"Some people just don't know how to say you're welcome." Sonic shrugged. Knuckles noticed Rouge by herself.

"Hey Rouge, if you don't have anywhere to stay, you can stay at my place. Besides I hardly go in there, I sleep outside." The bat glared at the echidna. "Yeah right, knowing you you're probably a slob. No place for a woman like me."

"Suit yourself then! C'mon Chris." Knuckles growled and Rouge contemplated the thought and mumbled,"Well maybe one night. But you better not try anything on me!"

"Ha! You?! Don't flatter yourself, if I ever…!" Their voices trailed off as they walked south and Chris followed them saying goodbye to the others.

Sonic turned to Éleos, "Look buddy, If you don't have a place to stay, my place is always open. And I can start helping you look for your friend tomorrow morning if you'd like."

"No need, but thank you. As for him, it is not of utmost importance. I will do what I can, keep an eye on Tails for me while I'm gone."

"Sure thing pal." Sonic did a double take, it was strange how important he made Tails sound before, and then, nothing.

The Chaotix left in a hurry to go build their new base of operations or something along those lines. Tails waited for all of them to leave before he left. Sonic had asked him if he was going to be alright. He assured him he would, and the hedgehog left in a second. As did the minted hedgehog. And the pink one as well, to go to her own house.

All that were left were Cream, Cheese and Tails. Tails turned around and locked the door that accessed the hangar.

"Tails, do you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Cream asked innocently without realizing she was making a face.

"Uh, sorry Cream, maybe some other time."

"Okay then, I'll come visit you tonight though, is that alright?" Her face felt red, she had been planning to say that.

"Sure thing." His smile was weak but reassuring for the rabbit.

"Okay!" "Chao, chao!" She hurriedly and excitedly left to greet her mother she hadn't seen in a few months.

He has no Idea he's leaving it behind. I can see it. But my dear, in my experience, it's better if someone does the work for you, and you take all the credit.

Tails' walk was lonesome and full of muse. He mostly thought of _her, _though he did not want to. But the thoughts were being fed to him over and over. He began sulking and talking to himself. It was but a league 'till he reached his beach house, and another and a half until his parent's house. It annoyed him that his friends left him, but then again he didn't want to see anyone. Grains of sand made their way into his socks which he was not a big fan of, but he did not stop. With each step and each thought it only made him feel heavier. It was as if the sand in his feet was pulling him down to the earth.

_Get out of my head._ It had only been a few months so it was still fresh in his mind. _Why won't you leave me alone?_ The waves crashed as he got out of a small forest area, he walked a bit more until turning left to go east. He noticed a few houses had been built while he was gone, but not too many. He also noticed a family playing on the beach with a beach ball. That made him smile for a second. _They have no idea of what's out there. I do. I've seen it all, and I've lost everything._

Tails' own innocence was overwhelming to himself and those around him. The boy in reality only felt a fraction of pain in its true form. But he managed to convince himself that he had all the troubles in the world. In truth, he did feel pain, and what happened was grievous, but his self-pity blinded him from the truth. It did him no good to hold his chest whenever he thought of her, or talk to himself and tell himself he was a mad man. His self-destructive behavior would be then end of him sure enough.

The fox closed his eyes, the sun mocked him by not letting him see a few feet away from his feet. When he opened his eyes again he was touching the door frame of his beach house. _It would be nice to live here._

Here it comes again.

_Do you remember fantasizing about you and her living together? _A smile quickly turned feign across his face. _It would never have worked anyway. _The boy lied to himself, he was trying to deny her in any way possible.

_What do you want from me? She was a plant, and I'm just... a sad excuse of an animal being._ _Maybe, just maybe._

When the fox reached his destination he could not be happier. Well, maybe a little happier, but he was home. He plummeted on his couch.

* * *

"This might come in handy."

"What is it doctor?"

"A little souvenir I borrowed from our less than fortunate friends." Eggman's new base was coming along swimmingly, no pun intended. He had all manner of robots working on it even before he arrived. The giant egg-shaped man pulled out a hunk of metal from a box. _Perfect._ "Decoe! Bocoe! See to it that I am not disturbed."

The yellow and gray robots stood at attention, and in unison responded, "Yes sir!" The metal door slid closed and locked as they left. The good doctor unconcealed a great smile. "Cameras, off!" There was a buzz and a whirr. He started when he pulled a chalkboard from a corner of the dark room. "Hm, this may be the last of the series."

* * *

The members of the Chaotix fell silent for once. Both Espio and Charmy knew what they wanted to do, and only Vector thought he knew what he wanted. When they reached the remaining plot of land that was their home they only saw a stool and an old filing cabinet.

"I don't think we are going to be able to build anything, much less our old base." Espio quietly commented.

"Ya' think sergeant plain and clear?" Vector responded sarcastically.

Charmy began, "Uh guys! I just noticed all our stuff is in space. Our livelihoods! Why?!"

"Put a cork in it Charmy." The crocodile lifted an earphone and out came a key. "This is our livelihood boys."

"Woah a key? It's so shiny! Uh boss? How do we split a key three ways?"

"Darn it you buzz brain, it's what the key unlocks. I just happen to keep our earnings in the ol' Acorn Mint."

Epio confronted his employer, "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I would like my share of the earnings." Vector looked like he'd been hit by a boulder.

"What do you mean Espio?"

"I mean, I'm leaving. And I'm not sure I'll be back."

Only Vector yelled,"What?"

"I need to see my clan. I must do this Vector, please try to understand."

Vector could not afford to lose a member but he had entrusted Espio with his life for time and time again. "Fine." _Hooroo mate._

"Actually boss, I've also been meaning to tell you something."

"Not you too Charmy!" Charmy shrugged and smiled.

"Well, I expect both o' ya's to come back. Aw c'mere!" The crocodile hugged his teammates wholeheartedly and handed them the key. He was uncertain if he would see them again, but he trusted them. For now, the Chaotix would be dispersed. As soon as they left Vector pulled up the stool and pushed the cabinet in front of him. He yelled towards the town,"The Chaotix detective agency is back!" He fixed his small glasses he pulled from his other earphone and pretended to be writing something down.

* * *

The pink hedgehog darted through the long, winding trail that lead to her house. A few more trees had grown since last she was there. There was even a house that stood right across from hers. She paid no mind to it though, when she unlocked her door she gasped. As she stood on the doorsill she viewed what appeared to be what a wild animal would do if placed in her home. Her living room chairs were overturned, not a single drawer or crevice had been unchecked. The very most place she felt more comfortable in was in shambles, and in a disorderly pattern. Amy locked the door behind her and tried to ignore the clutter. She also noisily locked all the windows in the house, closed them with blinds and walked through the kitchen and collapsed in her bedroom. The bed was not turned but she could not care less for the moment. She would listen to her cramping muscles and aching bones before giving in to paranoia.

Darkness took the girl into a corner of her mind not yet explored. She gave in willingly but did not dream, she was too tired for that.

Next she woke to an unsuspecting new sore in her neck. "Ow." Somehow she had ended up at the foot of her bed, head raised high. Maybe she slept-walked there. She only saw a bit of the moonlight hitting her bed through the blind. Her room looked alien yet familiar to her, like going home after one of those business trips her father used to have. Amy reached across her pink-sheeted bed and grabbed for a blue pillow lined with blue, fuzzy, little pom-poms. She thought of her Sonic, that was the go-to, she felt. It made her feel distressed and agitated that she could not see him. And it only felt worse that she knew that deep within, he was suffering too. But she could not do anything, or so she believed. She squeezed her pillow with all her might, and for a moment she knew nothing, only fear. Fear of having her heart broken-unless it already was. Fear that she would have to tread this planet alone, perhaps she had started and not noticed. Fearing all that lay before her and that none would remember her. "Daddy." She cried, "I can't."

Mayhaps she had overstayed her welcome with the people of Acorn. On the bright side, Knottingham was only a continent and a sea away, and not two of each. She threw her blue pillow in a fit of rage and confusion and started to pack.

* * *

"Mom? Dad?"

The modest house looked friendly from the outside, it beckoned Sonic to come in with only a small kitchen light. When the hedgehog poked his head in the house a confused Bernadette poked her head out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Olgie? Olgie is that you?" The mother recognized her son's voice, she responded by yelling his name and momma-bear-hugging him. His mother was a purple hedgehog with a big lock of blonde hair on top of her head, her blue eyes did not resemble Sonic's, and neither did his father's. (As a matter of fact his eyes weren't resembling a whole lot of anything these days.) She was still dressed in mail from neck down to her legs from work at the castle.

"Mom!" Sonic's voice cracked,"Don't yell that out loud!" He quickly closed the door and checked through the window to see if anyone had heard. It had darkened.

"Don't be silly, silly." She motioned for him to sit alongside her. More and more trinkets filled his old home than he could remember. Old spears of ancient wars never realized, even a shiny helm lay atop the fireplace on a slab of wood. "Do you like it? It was your great-great-great grandfather's. Sir Olgivile. I would have loved to live in those times. But anyway, I'm ready." His mother brought all of her attention to the blue hedgehog. When Sonic showed a confused look she blurted out,"Well? How did it go? Did you win? Well of course you won, you're here. And you're my strong boy! And where's the girl? Doesn't the hero get the girl in the end?"

"Mom!" There was another inconvenient crack in his voice so he checked and cleared his throat while he blushed. "Yes we won, and I'm alright. Where's Jules and Uncle Chuck?" He tried to sound sophisticated and grown up. It did not help that his mother shot a glare at him.

"Excuse me mister?"

Sonic lowered his ears,"Sorry ma'am. Where's dad?" He said loudly and sarcastically.

"Well if I know your father, he's probably not coming home today. That uncle of yours is going to wear him out. He has him working in the lab now, but he'd much rather be out and about fighting his way through to glory and for his family." His mother blushed,"Or so he always says. It's a good thing too, I worry about him these days."

"Don't worry, he's just like me, tough as nails and cool as a cat." The blue hedgehog scratched his nose and put his feet up on a nearby table.

"Shoes at the door mister." Bernadette motioned for the door, eyeing the possible mess his shoes might make.

As he did so obediently she asked,"What about that nice girl that always follows you around? She's a cutie."

"Mom, Amy's just a friend."

"Well can you blame a mom for wanting grandchildren?" She snickered, and Sonic rolled his eyes. "Amy...I wonder if I've met her parents… do they live around here?"

"Not that I know of." He said indifferently. His mother noticed the tone of his voice that time.

"Olgie what's wrong?" Her son only stared at his twiddling thumbs, he knew within something was wrong. He could not quite describe what he was feeling, only that he was thinning-from the inside. "What happened out there?" She grabbed her son and Sonic let himself go and laid on his mother.

"We lost someone. I wasn't fast enough." He spoke silently and sadly. "She and Tails were close, mom, I don't know how to help him." His mother understood that too well. They both quieted for a moment until she began again.

"That's... well that's terrible. We all lost people that day, but, poor Miles. First his parents and now a girl he probably liked."

Sonic remembered the dark days of the mad king, Tails had been but a small boy.

"We've raised him as our own, he knows he is welcome here."

"I hope he'll accept the help."

"We'll plan something nice for him." The purple hedgehog looked at the clock on the wall,"Olgie why don't you stay here the night."

"No, I've got to get home." Bernadette threw a blanket at his face.

"That wasn't a request." She yawned and climbed upstairs. "There's food in the kitchen, I have to get up early tomorrow. Goodnight sweetie."

"Goodnight mom." The hedgehog slept better than he had for months.

* * *

"Ugh, what time is it?" The groggy, red echidna got up from his stony bed. He napped longer than he wanted to next to his shining emeralds. He climbed down the ruins to go check on his two guests.

Rouge had managed to find Knuckles' secret stash in his little hut. It was under his bed and there she found a box with some notes and a key.

"Not the best hiding place Knuckie." _Hmm, I wonder what this goes to_. The bat eyed the small key in wonder. She placed the key in her suit, somewhere she knew the echidna would never dare try to look. She picked up one of the notes that was in the old box and opened it up. They all had been folded several times. One of the notes started with:

-My loveliest (the word loveliest was scratched out and replaced with dearest)dearest jewel. You don't know me, but I know you. You stole a few things from me, one of which was my heart. I would like the big, green emerald back but you can keep the heart. (It went on in scribbles) Knuckles quit kidding around!

It was made evident that this was a love note written to someone who had stolen the Master Emerald before, _guilty as can be, _Rouge thought, she also thought it was the cutest thing anyone had done for her. With every word read she needed to read more and more. She was in a wonderful trance, admiring the sweet words Knuckles had written for her, at least she was positive it was her. She was sure she had been the only one who had stolen it, or perhaps Eggman at one point but she doubted Knuckles wrote those to him. She gagged at the thought.

"What are you doing in here?"

The bat froze but silently hid the note from him," I uh, I found your key," she reached for it and showed Knuckles.

He sighed and mumbled that he needed to find a better spot for that. "Wait did you look in the box? That's private!" He immediately began blushing, luckily for him it was too dark to notice.

"Cross my heart!" She lied terribly, she did not want to embarrass Knuckles. But she was in the clear. Knuckles had not noticed. He grabbed for the box and extended his arm for her to give his key back.

"Oh Knuckie, won't you at least show me what it goes to."

"No."

"Pretty please."

"No."

This time it was a pouty face. It made Knuckles growl,"Fine! But no touching!"

"I promise sugar."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and took the key from her. She was satisfied, and followed the echidna to a trap door under a rug in his living room. It lead down a staircase and deep within, underground. Knuckles turned a knob and a light shone from the padded ceiling. And then soon enough, a few other lights shone as well.

"Now, I was told by my father to never reveal this to anyone. But no one said anything about reading it to anyone." Knuckles reached for a small safe where it was hidden even deeper underground. It was covered by a large sofa. He used the key and what it revealed was a large black book. It read on the cover: Echidna Tomes.

Normally that wasn't the bat's cup of tea but this new revelation had made her stay, for Knuckles. They both sat down on the sofa and he blew on it to get rid of some of the dust. The echidna eyed the book carefully, what he held in his hand was one of a kind and he could feel the weight of his clan in the book. Rouge waited patiently until he spoke up again,"This has been handed down by my ancestors for many years, since the time of the mobosaurs. But that's just myth, no one actually believes that." Knuckles loved history, especially his family history. He was excited to share the book with Rouge, or with anyone for that matter, but it was meaningful that it was her.

"Precursor," he began, "The following text is both a history of the echidna people and of all the peoples of our world. These words should not be taken lightly for prophets of all across time have written in this very book. To reject this book is to reject life itself, and reject our people from the truths that are written within." He skipped a few lines, "This book contains three volumes, the first is an ancient recording and warning of possibly our earliest antecessors: The Walkers. The second explains in great detail the very mysteries of our world and holy relics created or discovered by the Walkers. The third, a brief map of recorded time of our world."

Knuckles looked up to see if Rogue had fallen asleep. Surprisingly enough she was paying attention, he smiled and continued.

"Volume One, Tome of Prophecies. The coming of the Inventor… What? No…way." Knuckles looked as surprised as she did, they remembered what the minted stranger had told them. "I don't remember this at all."

He continued, now more intrigued and noticed there was a drawing above the text. It was of a triangle, perhaps an upside down pyramid. "The coming of the Inventor. Knowledge created and destroyed the world. -the wake brought upon Gluttony, he consumes all -imprisoned Wisdom. Death will bring -emergence and will be reincarnated in -known as Hate. The Inventor -be deceived by Death to bring about the reincarnation and the emergence. The death of (Love) -bring about Hate through him, -Hate will finish the world in place of Death." Knuckles paused and stared blankly, and confused.

"Because of the many years that this was copied and translated, some of the original meaning might have been lost. For example: the words that are capitalized might have meant the essence of that word or, just as simple as a title and not an actual name. Secondly, the word emergence has also been lost in meaning to us. The word might mean the awakening of a people, person, or object. The start of a time was also considered here, but the theory was left behind. The word Love and Courage were too closely similar and can otherwise just be Courage or an entirely different word."

The second drawing was of three triangles or pyramids, the largest was on the left, and exactly next to it was a middle sized one, and then a smaller next to that one. "The Sacrifice of the Three Traitors. (The Infected One) bemuses the hunter. - brothers can sacrifice, and only one can be left."

"Again not much of the meaning has been recovered from this warning. We do not know what the Infected One means, but it might be as the other names and just a title. We do not suspect that this has happened in our lifetime, perhaps it is yet to come. As you can see here a large portion of this was lost to us and we can only imagine what was written."

"The Passing of Light." This drawing was of two triangle's tips pointed away from each other from side to side. "Fallen, Revenge takes his throne, and armies of dead and living. A space of darkness created to end all countered by a space of Light. But Revenge -had always dissipated the Light, -Light might be extinguished."

Knuckles skipped a few pages. "Some are lead to believe that there is a final warning that possibly the Walkers wanted their children and children's children to have. But this is very unlikely." He skipped a few more pages until he got to another volume.

"Volume two, Tomb of Mysteries." He skipped a few words,"... that might help the world in the coming darkness, such as the Sword and Crown of Acorns (forged in the days of King Arthur), the chaos emeralds, and the power rings." He skipped to the next volume.

"Volume three, Tome of Recollections… and explanations of why things happen as they happen, such as the Days of Fury, The Coming of the Chaos Emeralds, The Forgotten War, The Purge(of the order of Ixis.) Then later the dark days of the Iron King, and the dark past of the echidnas: the dark age and reformation of the church and the great city of Echidnopolis, and the people's rebellion."

"The order of Ixis was once lead by a great sorcerer known as Mammoth Mogul but he was defeated and slain by the Knights of Aurora. He later returned to the order briefly, but our texts have no more writing on Mogul in the Days of Fury."

Knuckles stopped reading and noticed Rouge had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He put the book down and turned the lights off.

* * *

The dinner was just as boring as Cream thought it might have been. She ate her food rapidly and impatiently, wishing it wasn't too late to still meet with Tails. Éleos on the other hand had all manner of questions to ask to both Cream and Vanilla. Cream's mother Vanilla was more than forthright in answering any and all sorts of questions he had. He asked about their world, and about all the different continents, and about the other kingdoms, and of the kingdom they lived in. When they finished their meal, Éleos politely thanked them for the food, said his goodbye, and entered the void that was the lone dark. The only thing other than his skin tone that shined in the dark was his red stone. Afterwards, Cream Immediately helped clean and put away the dishes.

"Mother, may I please go and see Tails now? I promised him I would go see him after dinner." _Please say yes, please, please, please, say yes._

Vanilla looked out through the kitchen window and thought about it for a moment. "Okay Cream, but be safe. And make sure you don't come home too late. And also have Tails take you home." Her mother really wanted to spend some time with her daughter, but she also wanted Cream to be with her friends.

"Thank you mother!" Cream darted out of the kitchen, out the door and into the dark, leaving a still-eating Cheese behind. "Chao?" Vanilla peeked out,"Cream dear, you forgot Cheese!" But it was too late. "Hm. Not to worry Cheese, you can spend time with me." "Chao." The Chao sounded inconsolable.

When she got to town the wind started to pick up. She rubbed her arms trying to get warm. There wasn't really anybody outside their homes, the castle gates and portcullis were closed as well. But the winding road was open to her, she took it. She walked speedily, every minute or so she looked back thinking someone was following her. She did not look long enough to see the only thing that was following her. A red light, watching and stalking her. The lights seemed to go out the farther she got out of town, she was almost at Amy's house. And speak of the demon.

"Amy?" There was a light figure on the road holding a bag on her arm and back.

"No. No, no, no, no, no."

The rabbit approached the girl, her suspicions were correct, it was Amy. Amy in a cloak and carrying some things. "Amy what are you doing out here? And where are you going?"

"Cream, I- didn't want it to be this way."

"Amy I don't understand."

"Cream."

"Are you… leaving?" The rabbit wasn't stupid.

"Cream, I have to go home." The hedgehog crouched down to the rabbit's eye level.

"But- but you are home."

"No Cream. I lied."

* * *

"There's no time, he's coming. Have you found it? Please I beg you, don't give it to him."

"What are you talking about? Everything is fine. I couldn't ask for anything better than this."

"Tails you don't understand, don't trust anyone. Not even my appearance."

"What? That makes no sense."

"Tails. Tails. Tails!"

"Huh what?!" It was his front door. The fox quickly remembered what he dreamt. _C'mon, give me a break. _He got up and drowsily opened the door to reveal a swollen-eyed rabbit.

"Cream?"

"I, she, she, was, l-l-leavin-leaving. I, do-, don't" She gasped for air after every other word.

"Come in, please." He nervously closed the door and turned a knob for a light to see what the matter was. He set her down on his couch. For a moment he went to start a fire in the fireplace but Cream stuck to him like a magnet. Not letting go of his arm, Cream wailed harder. Her breathing became more erratic and uncontrollable.

"Hey, calm down. Breathe." The boy held the rabbit for a while, until her breathing became less erratic and became more of gasps. They both sat on the soft rug of Tails' living room. When the girl was more calm, with both hands he raised her head, "Tell me, what happened." She averted her eyes. "No. Talk to me." He at that moment could see through her, and she felt it when she stared back. She sniffed a few times still hugging the fox.

"Amy," a sniff, "she-she's leaving."

"Where is Amy leaving?"

"She, she said," another sniff,"that, she was hurt, and that, she was going home."

"Home?"

"Yeah."

The fox wondered what Amy could mean by that. He tried to think of what would help Cream the most at the moment.

"It's alright now. She has somewhere to be right now, and, we have to support her."

"I, guess."

The fox held her close, he felt a little weird about it, but he knew it would help her somehow. Cream could feel his heartbeat. It was a slow rhythm, unlike hers at the moment. She looked up at the smiling fox. _No one has done that for me, other than mother._ She thought as she stared into his soft, mirror-like, blues in his head. She was looking for something or someone. She wanted to find him, find Tails in his own eyes.

"There, there. Isn't that better?" He patted her head, he felt gawky doing so.

On the walk home she realized he was holding her hand. She felt glad he could not see her blush in the dark. Before they arrived she tried to look in his eyes again, still searching.

**Section III**

The modest Sofería and the fair Gnó̱si̱ spoke silently outside the temple court. Sofería played with one of his large tusks while they talked, his fur covered his eyes and he kept having to fix it. Gnó̱si̱ pulled himself with his tentacles wherever he went. His ventricle sacs glowed in the light of the place they were in, and his pink tentacles radiated his glory.

Sofería continued the flow of the conversation after the pause,"Impudence was never your strong suit Gnó̱si̱."

"I am not being impudent. I'm expressing my concerns."

Sofería changed the subject,"Thank you for backing me up, but the council has merit in their comments."

"Your sight is blinded by years of anger. You say this because your people persecuted you." Gnó̱si̱ snapped at his friend.

"With good reason!" He raised his voice at him,"Friend, I forgave them long ago. Forgive me, I did not mean to become upset."

Gnó̱si̱ glared at him wryly.

The large animal continued, "Since we are on the matter, what of your people?"

He raised a tentacle, "My people will never again make war with yours. Politics were tiresome, but I persuaded them of the greater good."

An angry Imperious walked by, "Friend Sofería!" He sarcastically saluted the being. He looked over to Gnó̱si̱, "I am sorry if things got out of hand back there."

"The feeling is mutual." Gnó̱si̱ could not smile for he had no mouth, on the other hand the dark colored humanoid could and did.

"It's quite alright friend." Sofería smiled warmly. He did not enjoy holding grudges.

"Good." The Old One motioned for Sofería to get closer while extending his arm. Sofía bent down a little to reach the humanoid's height and took his hand. The Old One pulled him closer, surprisingly he had a lot of strength for his size.

Imperious lowered his voice to a whisper. The Old One let him go, smiled and walked away.

Sofería paused, "Keep walking…. Why would your people not agree? They respect you, you are a great leader.

It comforted Gnó̱si̱ to hear that, "I hope so."

"Feel of luck, I am here by default."

"Do not speak so lowly of yourself Sofería."

"I do not deserve the title." The giant animal changed the subject again, "Something is coming my old friend, I can feel it."

"We can all sense the creature, do not worry it is far away."

"It's not that, I can sense the previous Thánatos."

Gnó̱si̱ wrapped a tentacle around Sofía, "Nonsense. By the way, what did Imperious tell you?"

Sofería gulped loudly, "He said… that Filanthro̱pia was the agent we are looking for."

"Lagneía!"


	12. Chapter 11: The Fruit Never Falls Far

**Changes made in version 5:**

**Names changed, Sofia- Soferia/ Empeiria- Imperious**

**Conversation with Vi and Mercy in Section II**

**Chapter 11**

**The Fruit Never Falls Far**

Sonic, coincidentally, woke up to find some fruit next to where he lay on the table. He yawned, stretched, took a bite of the fruit. He sped away to the one person who could help him solve the mystery in his mind. But knowing where to find the wizard Merlin was going to be tricky. That's why his feet led him to Castle Acorn, perhaps his uncle or his father might know where there old man was. And old was an understatement.

The greens of The Great Forest were even greener than he remembered, they always seemed to whisper to one another, the trees. The air of life rode bountiful through the kingdom, even in the coming cold season of Fallstar. One could just imagine what it was like when it was the time of Everbloom. But what the blue hedgehog did not notice when he flew past the trees of green-turned brown, and the chill of the wind against him, was that the greens spoke of another secret, a dark that had already reached the land. The only problem was that no one spoke tree, at least, no one alive yet.

Sonic immediately stopped when he could go no further. The great gates were adorned with the symbol of the king: a greatsword and surrounding it was a crown. Unfortunately the gates were closed.

"Halt!" Yelled a royal guardsman standing watch of the gates. He wore what the custom was for all royal guards. The guard was dressed in a shining red helm, blue chestplate, red pauldrons that resembled acorns and metal, red, shoes. Engraved on the chestpiece was the symbol of the king. On his waist was also, tied a red belt of fine material and a sheath and sword. The part of the sword that could be seen had a golden-plated handle. The individual that was posted there was a porcupine, and the other that was on the other side of the gate was an old tortoise.

The hedgehog had not moved but he guessed he could give the guard the benefit of the doubt.

"What business have you citizen?"

"I'm to see the Queen," Sonic responded politely.

"Show me the letter of your invitation."

"No. No invitation, I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog?" He sounded as if he wasn't sure of that himself. Even the guardsman paid a queer look.

"Oh, Mister Sonic, of course. The Queen is expecting you. Open the gate!" At his command the tortoise from the other side pulled a large handle placed on the ground. As he did there was a clanking sound coming from underground which made the gates open.

The hedgehog ran past them at an amazing pace, he also ran past the portcullis which was lowered during daytime. Past the first circumferential wall, past the giant garden and fountain, past the second circumferential wall, past a stone hallway, but he stopped briefly. He did not know where he was going so he asked a guardsman posted at a doorway where he could find the lab. The guard did not even have to talk, all he did was point at the door he was guarding. The door had a sign that said laboratory. _Duhr._

But before he went in someone shouted towards him.

"Sonic!"

He turned, at the end of the hallway was the Queen Regnant of the Kingdom of Acorn followed by a maid. He knelt at her presence, "My queen," he said extra politely.

"Nonsense, call me Sally. We owe a great deal to you Sonic. I am to understand that...it was taken care of?" She whispered that last part.

Sally's way of speech made Sonic feel a bit more comfortable which helped him act the way he always did.

"Sure thing. We took care of the Metarex as you told us to do."

"Splendid! I also see your trip has done a number on your newfound manners."

Sonic blushed and scratched his head,"Ha, how was I supposed to know you were the queen when we first met?"

"Indeed," she agreed,"I guess the lack of a crown does not help, but that wouldn't stop you."

Sally refused to wear any fancy dresses so she wore the garment of the royal family, which was similar to what the royal council or guard wore, which was simply: a blue, buttoned shirt laced with red, a red belt and red shoes. Engraved on the shirt was the symbol of the king.

She continued,"If you are looking for your father Jules, you won't find him. I've summoned him to another dreadful council meeting. I hope you can forgive me." The queen's face implied she was being playful.

"No problem Queen uhh, Sally. I'll catch him later."

"Great!" She smiled, "I hope we see you there. Oh and before I forget, we have planned a banquet in your honor, and your companions, it will be in a few weeks I believe."

"Yes, of course," He was not expecting that.

"Keep up the good work," the queen walked along as the maid followed. Sonic sighed in nervous relief and the guard opened the door to the laboratory.

Contraptions, doohickeys, gizmos and whatchamacallits were all neatly organized in a special pattern. Although not by color or size. One contraption in particular took up most of the space, it was in the middle of the room. It had windows of some sorts at the top and then lined up next to each other, circling the top of the contraption. Then it was covered on its sides by two metal plates, and from the ground up it resembled an elevator, only with a small railing around it. The contraption was on the lower level of the laboratory. There was an office in a corner of the room and another office opposite of that. Before looking for anyone, Sonic admired the handiwork of his uncle and father. One doohickey resembled an arm except made out of different metals. When he poked it, the arm jolted and bounced off the table it was placed on, making Sonic jump.

"Careful, that thing bites."

"Buahh!" Sonic had been doing this a lot lately. "Uncle?"

"My dear boy! It's been too long."

"Uncle!" The two relatives embraced each other. Sir or Professor Charles was also a hedgehog, his color was a bit lighter than Sonic's and he had white bushy eyebrows and a bushy, thick moustache. He also wore small glasses, which he always seemed to misplace even though they never left the comfort of his nose.

His uncle rapidly went for Sonic's shoes, he grabbed his foot almost making Sonic fall. "Now tell me my boy, how are they? Have they melted yet? I made these to last you a very long time, I did not know the material I made it from was close to indestructible!"

"They are perfect uncle! And man do the gals dig it!"

Charles was concerned, "Well then, let's hope their "digging" doesn't do any unwanted damage. It took me months to make those shoes! Kids these days, with their crazy lingo and digging things." That last part was a mumble.

"Oh uncle, please, never change." Sonic smiled, he missed the old days when he would spend time with him.

"Speaking of change!" He pointed at the big machine in the middle,"Take a gander and guess what this does!"

"I don't know, sends us and half of Acorn to another dimension? That seems to be what it always is."

Charles looked concerned again,"What?! Has Tails beat me to it?"

"No uncle! Show me."

"Alright, but you can't tell anyone. Jules and I have been at this for a while now. It's gorgeous, I think you'll like it." At that his uncle grabbed a pad with a few buttons on it on a nearby table, he turned a knob on the machine and it crackled and whirred. The two metal plates began spinning, and the windows shined, sending sparkles across the entire room. He handed the pad to Sonic, "If anything should happen, press the big, blue button." A few seconds later the railings descended and a few beams shot through the center of the contraption, making a loud crack in the air, almost like thunder. What appeared from nothing in the center was a small pocket of concentrated matter, it looked like a white hole that was in essence nothing and something at once. Charles approached the nothing and stuck his hand in slowly, but he only dared stick just his hand. When he pulled it out his hand shone brightly. He walked over to his nephew and showed him his hand. It was metal. Down from the wrist to his pointer finger. The bone was completely replaced by silver joints and screws. But to his surprise his uncle was bleeding all over, from within his wrist. When he could not take the pain anymore, he put his hand back in the hole and received his hand back, but blood stained the fur on his arm and the floor.

"Whoa."

"Isn't it just extraordinary? My life's work, finally it works!" Charles danced a little jiggle from who knows how long ago. When he finished he turned the machine off. "Do you know what this means Sonic? We could resolve once and for all, any injury known to animals. We could extend people's lives, we can even go as far as bringing lost ones back from the dead! Of course it needs some tweaking, and sure it needs some kinks, but just imagine."

"I'm speechless. You really outdid yourself this time uncle."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Jules. Where is he anyway?"

"Sally said there was a meeting."

"By my sweet mother's tangly, red, beard! We're late! Come along now son."

* * *

"We will not institute any garrison to be built or placed within the iron border. We must teach them to teach themselves, to fight for their own people." Sally was as wise as she was ruthless in the battlefield.

The room held an occupancy level of over a few hundred, but only a few attended. The seats were elevated, the center was the highest point. And they were close to a large window overlooking outside the castle walls and into the nearest town of Thumbnut. From left to right there was, Sir Penelope the platypus (head of internal affairs), Sir Jules the hedgehog (General of the Acorn Army and head of external affairs), Hamlin the pig (head of treasury), an empty chair that used to be the king's, Queen Regnant Sally (whom oversaw all of the kingdom's affairs at once), Dylan the porcupine(head of Law and Justice (working alongside Penelope)), Sir Bernadette the hedgehog (head trainer for the Acorn Army) a chair left for Sir Charles (head scientist), and lastly one for Merlin Prower (head of potions and magics) who was not present.

"A just answer to their problems. How quickly can we move supplies from here to the Dragon harbor?" That was Dylan.

Jules responded, "I can have squadron one and two of Sixty-Four move in by nightfall tomorrow. Now that they know how to move silently, it would be a lot safer, thanks to Bernie." He smiled warmly at his wife and she smiled back.

* * *

"But uncle it's important. Where can I find Merlin?"

"Who knows? Probably on another one of his crazy adventures. Although he did say something about doing research at Echidnopolis, you might find him there." They entered the council chamber as quietly as they could. They did not go unnoticed.

Sally spoke up, "Sir Charles, we are glad you could join us, you as well Sonic."

"Pardon my Queen." Charles made it up to his seat, and Sonic sat by in one of the first row of seats that faced the council. His mother waved at him while making a goofy face, making him wave back embarrassed.

"I beg for one moment members, before we continue." The queen stood up, "We recognize Sonic of house-" Bernadette instantly motioned for the queen to whisper, which made Sonic face palm, he knew it was coming. This also made Sally giggle, "We recognize Olgivile of house Olgivile, second of his name, the hero of our time. He was charged by secret meeting of this council to make safe our world. And he has done so bravely. I was also informed that not every one of you made it back home. We have decided to build a commemorative visual for the one soul lost to us. If you would like to add anything the council will hear it now."

Sonic stood up, he was playing with his fingers. It wasn't like him to be so nervous and yet he was. He cleared his throat, "Great Council Acorn, on behalf of the team who went to space to destroy the one called Dark Oak, I thank you for considering to commemorate -. I can say with a clear mind, and a sound conscience, that the threat has been eliminated, and our world is now safe. Thank you." He sat down, his heart reached his throat, throbbing. He truly wondered and doubted if what he was saying was true.

"Thank you Sonic."

* * *

The morning of, a surprised Rouge woke up next to Knuckles. Neither of them could find Chris, only Sonic saw him leave on the machine Dr. Eggman had built especially for him. Evidently it was supposed to send Chris back to wherever he came from.


	13. Chapter 12: Well, Coming

**Chapter 12**

**Well, Coming**

Charmy wondered if Espio had thought about going home just as much as he did. It was special that even if their kingdoms were enemies they still became best of friends. He wondered what it would take to accept Espio back into the fold. They were both self-made outcasts. He didn't think about home as much as Espio did, but whenever the bee did remember, his stomach churned. He did a really bad thing, he always told himself that. He doubted much the acceptance of his return. What would father and mother think of him? As for his two best friends, _they probably hate me, especially…_

He stopped himself, he had already convinced himself that his two friends had hated him for what he did. He honestly couldn't dig himself deeper. It only took the bee three days to travel beyond the free people's continent. Once he got to the neighboring land it would only take another three days.

When the bee reached the snowy, Potter Peak (home to the Potter Colony) he saw all that lay before him: his land, his home. In the distance there was a gigantic colony colored in golds and yellows. It almost reached the height of Potter Peak (approximately 16,000 feet in elevation and 1.9 million square miles in area). He could also see the neighboring colonies, like the Dauber Colony (they were mud people), (both the Potters and Daubers were wasp people) Carpenter Colony (bees), Stingless Colony (bees), and many others. But his home was the Golden Hive. It beckoned members to come further, and warned enemies to stay away, with its radiating gold honeycomb, hexagonal shapes, it all was surrounded by leagues and leagues of green.

Charmy entered through one of the many access points in the hive. Inside was the tricky part, there were many orifices and hexagonal edifices. But a bees intuition always lead him home to the castle, which was more of a massive city that dangled from the top of the already massive hive. Bees, wasps, ants, flies, cockroaches, antlions and many more species roamed and flew across the hive and in the Golden City. It was just as magnificent as anyone who heard the stories could imagine. The old architects designed the city so that it would never break, and always hold up. The hexagonal shape was perfect for all of its structures. It would hold up very nicely since each piece was stuck to the next piece, and the next, and the next, making the structures impervious, in theory.

The Golden-Guards of the golden doors to the palace recognized Charmy promptly and with shock. They opened the doors for him, and he, with his heart in his mouth, entered the noisy halls of the Golden Palace. The bee hovered to the golden hall of the King-Bee and the Queen-Bee. For a time the chamber grew quiet. Conversations of treaties and whispers of wars ceased for a moment.

"Hey mom. Hey dad." Charmy was quiet and abashed.

When the King-Bee got ahold of himself he announced, "My son, the prince, has returned!"

* * *

Espio stood at the door of the Dragon Dojo, it once held great monk statues all around, now turned ruinous and rumbled. The doors were opened to the lost member. The monk leader of the new Dragon-Shinobi Clan only smiled at his student. Whether or not he was lost, he had found his way home, and that was a gift he found greater than all the jadeite and nephrite in all the land.

Espio felt greatly and deeply ashamed for leaving in the first place. But that didn't matter now, "Master Valdez, I need to recover what I've lost."

Master Valdez motioned for Espio to come inside, "You won't find anything out here. And if you speak of your honor, you might be surprised."

Espio still did not feel worthy to enter the dojo, but did so anyway.

"Master, where is Juanita, I need to see her." Espio's accent almost came back to him by saying his sister's name, which he hadn't in quite a long time. (The Dragon clan which consisted of the chameleons, (resettled back to the Dragon Kingdom), consisted of only a couple of generations.

Master Valdez was not pleased with his request, he looked at his old student sorrowfully. "Of course. Right this way."

* * *

For what seemed like a day and a half, the entirety of the Golden City was in modest uproar. The city folk seized all work and play to celebrate the great return of their prince. Charmy did not like the attention but it was better than what he imagined would have happened. Charmy tried to tell them to put him down as they flew him past all buildings for the people to see, but it was too noisy. The King-Bee and Queen-Bee approved. And they could not be happier, the lost son and heir was finally home.

The people hummed in unison, it was a glad return. And the lower cities wondered what the buzz was all about. When the joyous crowd finished their rounds of parading through the city they lowered the lost son and Charmy returned to his parents.

Massive as the Golden Hive was, word still hadn't reached the entire capital city. However, that night was filled with humming and instruments, and fly-dancing of all kinds.

But when half-light approached the horizon, the bees and all insects knew of its coming danger. They were in fact early-risers, the people of Golden Hive died down in noise and hum in their catacombs. But Charmy still knew he had one more visitor, perhaps not the last apology given, of the night, but certainly the most important. The King and Queen-Bee let the prince rest, while he readied himself behind the large door of his princely room. He did not have to look far, she was sitting, across the room on the balcony, overlooking the rest of the palace and great hive.

Charmy knew he was in trouble, it just never came to his childish mind that he would have to answer to his bride-to-be. But he came this far, he wanted to accept any and all consequence that came his way. When the bee reached her, he sat down next to her. Her eyes were closed, but he knew she could sense him. He remained just as quiet as her, he did not want to be there. _Toughen up Charmy, you can do this._

"Saffron?" When he asked he noticed she looked up at him, she seemed indifferent about him. _That's not so bad._

The bee-girl struck him across his face. And then even harder again when he looked back.

"Hey!" It almost made him giggle at her, realizing she couldn't hit him any harder.

"Don't _you _laugh!" It took her a moment to break down and embrace her groom-to-be. The two ended up in each other's arms sobbing.

"Hey, where's Mello?"

* * *

"How long has she been this way? Sensei?" There was another purple chameleon, only a darker shade. She was resting, and sick on a bed in an infirmary. It was always dark in the dojo, they had to light a few candles near her bed. The blue chameleon-master wondered what other crazy thing his student might do if he knew the truth.

"Not long, even considering you leaving her, she always knew how to handle herself well. She only recently found out she had another relative."

His comment baffled Espio, "Another relative?"

"Yes, you have another sister. Salma."

"Well that's great news. Where is she?"

"Not entirely," Valdez tried to think of the best way he could say it, "Salma's team was recently captured, by the Iron Vanguard. Apparently it wasn't the Vanguard, they say it was the Iron Will. I'm sorry Espio, it was only supposed to be a reconnaissance mission."

Espio was concerned, "_The_ Salma? You knew. You knew I had a sister yet you did not tell me."

"It was not my call, you must understand. Salma knew that if the enemy discovered she had family, they would use them against her."

"But why tell her now? Look at my sister!" It had been a few years since Espio raised his voice.

"I did no such thing. She found out, we still do not know how."

"There are others that know? This is why I left, I knew you kept secrets, but this, _this _is crossing it!"

* * *

"So, ya' hear the T.A.? Apparently I'm a big deal now! No that's stupid. Sheesh, the self confidence that savin' the world gives me is overwhelming." The crocodile scratched his ears under his earphones, -feeling up his key- as he thought. He was right outside Cream's house, providentially, no one had spotted him yet. He wondered what Charmy and Espio would tell him at a time like this. "Hey Vector, why don't you try using your head this time?" His impression could have used some work, and could also easily apply to the bee or the chameleon. _Oi, what about…_

"I'm back! I know you missed this ol' croc! How's about you and I… uh." At that point, a little Cream opened the window of her house to listen to Vector, she was always amused by his antics. It was strange to her, but she knew Vector was there for her mother.

Vector raised his arms, "What these? Oh they're nothing. Bam!"

"You better put those away Vector, mother hates weapons."

"Buah!?" Vector's pose was less than fashionable. He quickly blushed, "How long have you been there Creamy?"

"The entire time." She smiled jokingly. He covered his snout in embarrassment. "I won't tell." The rabbit giggled, making this crocodile safe once again. "Are you going to come in or keep talking to yourself? Mother and I are making lunch."

"R-right." If the croc liked anything better than detective work, it was the grateful, heaping, helping of a cook's hard work. He peered around but he saw no Vanilla, when Cream opened the round door for him.

"Make yourself at home, I'll tell mother you're here." She sped upstairs while Vector took a seat. The room was cozy, and Vector almost sunk all the way through the couch because of a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. _Oh boy._ He smacked his long lips, and his stomach Imagined what wonders it would be tasting today.

A little Cream followed her mother Vanilla down their short stairs. "What a wonderful surprise Vector." The tall rabbit reached the height of the croc, she wore a long, tassel, light-purple dress with a short, crimson, button shirt on top. Her gloves were cuffed, and her tie was like her daughter's only a slightly darker shade, and less of tassels, and wider. She also wore glimmering red heels, fashioned with a ring over each foot. Her large lock of orange hair waved to and fro, making the croc's heart beat to and fro. Another striking feature he thought was of her dangling ears. They reached down all the way to her waist. Vanilla always kept up appearances, for example, she still wore fancy dresses even when she was alone with Cream. She also suspected that Vector might show up, so she glossed her lips a little to match her dress.

"Uh, hi'ya Cream's mom." Vector extended a hand, and Vanilla took it.

"Oh please Vector, It's Miss Vanilla Cream's mom. Or you can try Vanilla." She joked.

"Oh! Uh yeah! Of course Vanilla's mom Cream. I mean Miss Vanilla's mom! I mean Miss Vanilla!" Vector was more than sheepish. That made Vanilla laugh.

"Won't you please join us for lunch Vector."

"Miss Vanilla, you don't have to ask me twice." Vector grabbed for his pack, "Oh, before I forget, I got you something Creamy."

"Yay present!" Cream thought for a moment about her sudden outburst, and reconstituted herself, she had of course more propriety than that, she wanted it to be that way at least. "I mean, thank you my good sir." When she snorted she had to put her hands on her mouth. That last joke made her crack up. What he pulled out was a plushie-sized version of Tails. Although not as life-like but whoever made it got the tails right. Cream grabbed the plushie, just thinking about him made her blush terribly, but it made her incredibly happy.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cream hugged the croc, Vanilla took note of that.

"Aw it was notin'."

"Wow Vector did you make that yourself?" Vanilla knew of what Tails meant to Cream.

"No actually I got it from someone." As a matter of fact, it seemed odd now to Vector why someone would make a Tails plushie. That thought never ran across his mind when he got it from some stranger. But it was a deal, free of charge. Which would seem even more suspicious to him if he wasn't still thinking "It was practically a steal."

"Yeah, it was practically a steal."

Lunch wasn't as awkward as Cream thought it might be, but it was for Vector. The two made faces at each other when Vanilla was not looking. Cream had him beat with a face she saw Amy do multiple times, she stuck out her tongue and lowered her eyelid with her finger. When they finished eating Vector stuck out his belly and massaged it satisfyingly. Vanilla broke the short silence.

"Well Vector, I can't say it enough, thank you for taking care of Cream out there. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Aw, 'dose Metarex didn't stand a chance." Vector noticed he was automatically looking at his flexing muscles and stopped. "I mean, you're welcome. Cream and me did bump-."

"Cream and I." Cream corrected him without thinking. She apologized when she noticed.

"Oh that's right. Cream and I," he teased Cream, unnecessarily emphasizing the corrected phrase, "did bump heads up there, but she showed me who's boss." Cream smiled emphatically at her sweet victory. Vanilla giggled.

"Mother may I go see Tails now?" The little girl stood up and pushed her chair in.

"Yes dear, please be safe."

"I will! Thanks mother!" Cream ran upstairs to get ready. Vanilla took a few plates to wash while Vector looked at his thumbs in some kind of trance or even admiration, knowing the croc. Vanilla looked out a window, "Oh Harold, who does she take after? Not me. And especially not you." Vanilla held her chest in longing.

"What was that Miss Vanilla?"

"Hm? Ah, Vector. Why don't you help me with the dishes?"

The croc blushed, "Right away."

Cream opened the door to find a little, blue Chao with arms crossed, looking right at her with a not-so-caring look. "Are you going to leave me alone this time too?"

"Cheese, I told you, that was an accident. I promise it won't happen again." She proceed over and kissed the flying Chao. Cheese rolled his eyes, he couldn't stay mad at her. He closed his eyes and turned around while she picked something to wear. She was thinking something other than her normal salmon or orange dress, perhaps something that would match her brown eyes.

"Cheezelet and Chocola say you are spending too much time with him." Cheese was not the jealous type, but he did not like being ignored.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well I told them that it was nothing, and that you would tell me if it was something more."

Cream looked over thinking of what on Mobius Cheese was thinking. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone knows Cream!"

Cream blushed, "I don't know what you mean Cheese."

"You've always been honest with me, what's so different about now?" Cheese knew the answer but he wanted her to tell him.

She ignored his question, "What do you think?" He looked around, the dress did match her eyes well. "Beautiful as always." Cream giggled extra cutely. When she twirled to show her dress off she felt a sudden pain in her head, it almost made her fall over. But she caught herself in time, while Cheese noticed the plushie.

"What's this? Oh this totally proves my point." He pointed at the plushie sitting on her carrot shaped pillows.

Cream looked over, "What point?" She also knew the answer to that and smiled thoughtfully.

"You like him!"

"Shush you blue blob!"

"You like him." This time he whispered.

"No I don't!" Cream lied, she took hold of Cheese and ran downstairs.


	14. Chapter 13: Warnings From Yours Truly,MM

**Chapter 13**

**Warnings From Yours Truly, MM**

"In another report, the Queen Regnant has called for a celebration-three days from now- of the team who went out in space and stopped the menace known as the Metarex. The team will receive special recognition for their acts of bravery. The invitation has been sent out to all the nearby towns and villages, exclusively: the town of Thumbnut, Castle Auburndale, Drabdun, Hayseed, Pipshire, Umberdale, Castle Little Beak, and Newcork. For those towns not named we ask you to tune in if you own a TransAudio, we of the first reporter team will personally cover the event. In another report, tomorrow marks the eight-year anniversary of the fall of the mad king. Let us never…"

Tails set the focals down, in turn shutting off the T.A. He was laying on his couch, he did so with ease nowadays, and quite frequently too. Hearing the report he knew he was obliged to attend, even though every being of his body told him not to. He did not want the attention, nor did he need it. The fox had not been sleeping well, he squeezed his eyelids with his fingers. _Why don't you rest Tails, rest here with me? I can't, you're not really here._ He was tired of thinking of her, tired of being tired. He hadn't even touched something metal since he got here. No brilliant Idea, no life changing invention. He did not deserve a rest, he sipped on a strong carbonated beverage that he poured in a cup. His eyes deceived him, they were playing with him. Often they would start to make everything gleam, and he would close them, only to find himself jump a few times to wake himself up. _You're not real… you're not…_

* * *

Sally was in her private quarters, even there she could not escape her hectic life. Her desk was filled with papers, she was in the middle of tweaking an ordinance law. She felt that the bill's passing was premature. Today was a slower day, that was why she was still "in bed" taking a "break".

"The law states that in the event of unexpected or deliberate shutdown-shutdown referring to the breaking of substantial or any law/ or otherwise incapacitation of the ruler of the crown- of the crown, whether it be by the crown or its subjects, wherewith the powers that are given by the crown will be disseminated in the order of: the Royal Courts, the Church Courts, and the Manor Courts. If the first court fails the powers spoken of will be passed to the next courts and so on." Sally knew there were Iron eyes everywhere, who could she trust? She knew of some, but it was a risky move to trust the royal courts with all the powers of the crown.

"The royal, church and manor courts will be three (3) different bureaus of rule. The powers set forth and given to the crown will be evenly distributed to these three (3) bureaus." Sally knew some of the council would not go for this new revision. For that, some of them should be arrested. But she thought herself a usurper herself. She remembered the days of her father, "How am I any different?"

She read over her revision again and again, and kept reading the original law, "Trial by Tribulation, set forth from the first Manor Court, approved by the king of the land." She saw the seal of King Arthur. Which was an acorn and his famous sword. _Times change._ "The Manor Court gives (blank) the trial of: poison, seven red-hot ploughs, red-hot iron over distance, burning." _What are we savages?_ "Trial by Battle, set forth from the first Royal Court and first Church Court, approved by the king of the land. The Royal Court and the Church Court gives (blank and blank) the Trial of Battle. The only viable candidates will be two noblemen or knights, or a woman or man with a nobleman or knight as a representative. If the gods seem fit that one should live, that man will be innocent."

Luckily a lot of these laws were not practiced in the new kingdom, it was just a matter of rewriting some of them now. But even in her rest days, Sally did not have the time nor luxury to herself. She did not whine, she could not whine. To her there was no rest day, she took care of a whole people, a whole kingdom. But that wasn't enough for her, not all the responsibility of the crown. She blamed herself for too many faults of the kingdom, some mistakes that had occurred.

In truth she was terrified, mortified even, that perhaps the madness, her father's madness, was hereditary. She found herself talking to no one in particular at times, she was convinced it had some relation. Not only that but she saw things, people long deceased. They would never talk back to her, they only stared with longing eyes. With all these thoughts, and the anniversary that was coming up she thought of doing something that hadn't been done for a time and a half.

"My queen?" It was one of Hamlin's assistants. "Pardon my queen, I knocked but you did not answer."

"Yes, yes, what does he want this time?"

"Requisition orders your grace."

"Right, bring it here." The queen took the little bundles of papers and read some of them. "The recent usage of supplies being sent to the Simians… demands a raise of tax of 9.30 percentage making the total 14 percent… in all the realm...thereby the Dragon Kingdom must oblige to the needs of the land that was given to them by our ancestors, or otherwise their lands will be expropriated and given to use for the Acorn Army."

In times of war the tax would only go higher, but the claims that Hamlin was making the Dragon Kingdom succumb to were a little extreme. Whatever the Dragon Kingdom did in the past was in the past, Sally cared not for what they did, but what they were doing to help stop the war. She hated violence just as much as she loved her kingdom. "Expropriate?" Sally looked up, _He means to take their lands. He knows the dragons will not listen._ Sally's maid snuck through the door.

"Your grace, you are awake, would you like some water and food from the party last night?"

Sally thought about it for a moment, she stared deeply at the papers in front of her, but only thinking of one thing. "Wine, please. As for Hamlin, tell him we will need to discuss his requisition orders in a proper meeting." She gave the orders back and her maid came back with wine. When the queen mustered fake Courage she headed down to the darkest part of the great castle. The desolate corridors and unending steps led her to an annex underground. Her maid hated the dark, she always advised the queen to never come down, but she did as she always did, and ordered for her maid to stay above the annex.

Traveling alone with no noise made Sally hear her own heartbeat, each footstep filled her with excitement. She swayed her head around, every time she thought there was a face staring at her, at times she was correct. Maybe they were ghosts she thought. She heard moans and growls at the torch she was carrying. She knew those were real. When she arrived at her destination, she thought of what she might say. But what was said, was always said. The bars were rustier than she remembered, the light shone on a decrepit figure in the dark.

She spoke harshly, "Where are they?"

* * *

One.

Tails woke up panicked, his breath was loud. As if he had stopped breathing while dreaming. He pictured his surroundings, he was upstairs, in his bed. He did not remember going to bed, but he climbed down anyway. Someone was waiting for him downstairs, and that excited him. His nap only took an hour or two, for it was still light out. Past midday he guessed. He joyfully made his bed, and made his way downstairs trying to be as silent as was possible. From the stairs he saw that the kitchen light was on, but no one was there. He sat there waiting for someone to come out. A hand touched his shoulder, "Boogety, boogety! Did I say it right?" Tails back hairs shot up all at once and he yowled. He turned around, "Ah, you scared me."

"That's what you get for trying to scare me." The girl had green hair.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you that one." They both sat across from each other on a round table they had picked out. The girl read a book while he stared at her. "So… did you miss me?"

She did not look up, "Of course." The girl had a green dress. Tails reached for her hand, and she gladly gave it, still reading her book. The book was titled: Mobius: A Brief History. It had a picture of the blue planet.

"How was she today?" The girl was tall.

"Who?"

Now the girl gave him attention, also a dissatisfied look. "That isn't funny."

Tails saw a bouncing yellow head leaving the kitchen. He looked confused, "Who was that?" The boy looked up.

The girl was dead.

Her eyes were not blue but red with blood. Her hair was not green but charred with black. She was burning, and what Tails touched for a hand became dust. And then the rest of her was dust, his house was dust, and rubble. His environment was dust, and her an echo. And when her body wilted and withered away Tails woke again to the sound of his door.

He came to with wet eyes, and he brought the rabbit girl in. He tried to wipe the tears away but some found their way out eventually. He stayed quiet for a time and Cream only stared, and thought of what might help _him _this time. Tails sat on his couch, hugged his legs with his arms and looked at nothing. Cream was beside him, still not saying a word. The girl took a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" She said quietly, as if speaking loudly might startle him.

Ignoring her question, "Did you hear about the banquet? It's in a few days."

"Yes. Mother told me it was on the T.A."

"I don't think I'll be going. I'm planning on moving." He thought of what he said and reassured Cream, "To the beach house I mean."

"I've never been to the castle, maybe you'll like it."

"I have been, long ago. And no, I hated it."

The rabbit changed the subject, "I can help you move if you want."

Tails noticed he had a true friend beside him. He could say that about anyone else but he was convinced he would be lying. The proof to him was that she was there with him. "I would like that." He responded, for a moment he forgot about the dream, and whatever it meant. But when his mind went that way again he did not suffer as before, instead there was hope. His new hope that his dreams did mean something. That perhaps they were trying to tell him something. And the more Cream and Tails talked, the more strength he acquired.

"I'll start tomorrow. I think a change will help me."

"I do too," she agreed, "I'll be here." She smiled and promised to give whatever help she could offer.

"I think it will also help to go to the banquet." Tails changed his mind, wondering if he might regret that decision later. But Cream could not be any more ecstatic.

"Good, I'll tell mother you will be coming with us. It's too bad Amy won't be there. But that's alright, you'll be there and that's all that matters." Cream looked away hoping the fox did not hear her mutter. Tails did not want to be caught in the middle of a conversation about them, quickly he got up.

"Hey, want to go to the Typhoon? I think I forgot something very important." He grabbed for the key to his house, "And would you mind getting a pot from the garden? There should be a few there."

"No problem." When she gave the pot to Tails she wondered what that was all about. She would soon find out, something important indeed. They both walked the zany path that lead out of the town Thumbnut's territory and lead to the beach village which was Drabdun. They waved at some of the villagers. No one there recognized the two. A good thing, if they received unwanted attention like they did in Chris's world, they would dread taking simple walks. And both Cream and Tails thought of simple walks as a luxury. For that they half enjoyed them.

Cream was curious to find out what it meant when Tails pressed the numbers '26766' on the keypad to the door of the monstrous hangar. The keys lined up 1,2,3 from up to down, next to 4,5,6, next to 7,8,9,0. This keypad was different from the one on the Typhoon, that one, were numbers 1,2,3 from left to right and started again from the left. Probably something he adopted from Chris's world. The numbers shone when he pressed the combination and the door slid open.

The blue ship was just as welcoming and unfriendly as when they last left it. The state of it was poor, flying it again would mean crashing it once it was returned. Lights shone on its once majestic grays. With the push of a button on the wall, Tails' ship beckoned them inside. Tails took a lantern and Cream followed him. Even though it was still light out, dark crept in the many hallways. Tails took her to his small room where she waited.

"Can you hold the light a little closer?"

Cream did as she was told. The fox reached behind a drawer and pulled out a picture. He panicked when he realized what he was looking for could be anywhere. He lay his body on the cold floor. His eye level met the floor and there he saw it where it landed. Tails reached for something white, and small. When he got up he handed the picture to Cream. He dare not look at it. The green figure was all that stuck out to Cream. It hardened her heart to see her, but she remained unaffected for Tails.

"What do you have there?" Cream wondered.

"It's nothing. Do you have the pot?"

_Good. This is how I'll bring you back._


	15. Chapter 14: The Animal In The Emerald

**Chapter 14**

**The Animal In The Emerald**

**Section IV**

The golden beings stood silent and waited for the coming of the Precursor. The beings surrounded the Fountain of Time. It was said that if one should drink of the fountain one could see into the future. It was a local tale beings told each other. In the tale the High Ones were to choose someone of worth to replace them and bestow all of their powers to this lucky individual. But it was only a tale. Even the High Ones did not know what was to come. They too-now the six, stood patiently for the return. The High Father and High Mother together in front of the fountain. The Dreamer, The Forger, The Elemental, all three brothers and siblings of the High Father and Mother, The Avenger, and the one missing was and never again would be The Defender, both sons of the High Father and Mother. The cycle was almost complete, and they were running out of it. They each knew that in this most dark of days, they only had one hope, which was the Precursor. The only one that could see into the future, the one who was older and far wiser than even the High Ones.

The council stood gathered and huddled together. There was, Sofería the Wise, a massive mammoth, he was kind, and some would say his kindness was misplaced. Gnó̱si̱ the Understanding, also a massive creature, pink, and with many tentacles, also with one giant eyeball, his species was more commonly known as Xorda. Imperious the Skillful, a dark-colored humanoid, one with more secrets than the High Ones, and seen many battles. Filanthro̱pía the charitable, also anthropomorphic. Mercy, anthropomorphic. And three others who joined the crowd, the three Majordomos of the Beacon of Reality: Anub'Rakish, Xan'thil, and Amel. The only three in the city that were allowed to keep their former names.

Anub'Rakish, of the Nerubian species, a monstrous, beetle-like creature with four large, pincer legs, and two smaller pincer arms, and giant horn. Xan'thil of the Qiraji species,-brother species to the Nerubian-, a long vertical body which walked on six pincers, and two pincer arms, all limbs protruding from the base, two very long antennae, and four pairs of shoulders. And certainly not least Amel, a formidable male human.

There was no day, there were no nights. And yet there was a glow, a wishful sign that there was still light in such a dark cycle. That was one of the hopeful lights the beacon brought. It was refreshing to know that the Precursor himself would join them, and perhaps give them more hope. He was the same size as one of the High Ones, but you could tell he was aged by the way he saw and did. Each step to him had meaning. It was just as strange to wonder where he came from, and wonder where the High Ones came. Strange indeed it was to not reveal that to the general public. But the audience ate it up, they waited in glee and awe. Some started to whisper meaningless jibber.

There began to be cheers when he reached the High Father.

"My dear boy, look at you now." The Precursor greeted the High Father and the rest warmly.

"Thank you for coming in our darkest moment." That was the High Father.

"Come, greetings always tire me."

* * *

The golden being that was the Precursor took his satchel and placed it on the podium of the council chamber with a thud. He refused to sit on the seat that was available. So he stood.

"Fellow brethren, we do not have the luxury to spend cycles, commence with the majority concern."

A furry, brown hand quickly came up.

**One cycle earlier**

"Yes, now I know what you are thinking, but we cannot speak it now!" Many tentacles were urging Sofería.

"Are you mad?" Sofería nervously played with his tusk. Another pink tendril wrapped around his arm.

"Think objectively. We don't even know if he's right. We will keep an eye on her." Gnó̱si̱ pointed at his single eye. "Maybe that is why she fought so hard to send Mercy, maybe not. The clear thing is, we have a target. But the fewer beings know the better."

"And if you are wrong?"

"Then I am wrong." Gnó̱si̱ said resolutely.

"There is another, a newcomer. They say she is the daughter of the Lost One."

Gnó̱si̱ shook his head," I spoke with her mother, she confirmed it."

"Who can we trust? Can we even trust the High Ones?"

"Pipe down." Gnó̱si̱ motioned for them to move forward toward a large building. "If you keep shouting like that, you'll be branded a heretic in no time. As for the girl, I saw something in her, something dark, or saw lack thereof. She does not shine."

"Do you think it's her?"

"I'm unsure."

**Present cycle**

Sofería talked, "Many cycles I've pondered. We, myself and Gnó̱si̱ would think it best if we each go to our respective worlds and ensure their safety. We do not think it wise to simply kill to distract the creature. About one thousand cycles would be enough to prepare them, I know it."

The Precursor became excited, "A sound proposition, but if I may, why one thousand?"

"Forgive me, I thought you knew. Filanthro̱pía and Imperious have both reported to have seen the creature in a hibernating state. Even if it woke up now, the amount of travel would take many many cycles. Brothers and sisters, this responsibility falls on our shoulders. Putting harm on our children would make us no better than the creature itself."

Afthonría and her daughter stood awaiting their turn. The daughter looked around and awed the magnificent structure she was in, until realizing she was being watched.

"Mother," she whispered, "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Hush child."

"Is something wrong with me?"

"Hush." Afthonría remembered everything she put her daughter through, "No my baby, you are perfectly normal. You just don't have a body."

"Why mother? I thought things would be different."

"As did I."

* * *

A single, yellow Kingspray. Charmy threw the flower at his grave. For being a crypt it lit up better than most. The under-catacombs were still cold though. He did not want to say. He let himself be strong, he snuck away his feelings. Saffron touched Charmy's shoulder.

"He always told me you'd come back. He was there for me."

"But I wasn't." He closed his eyes angrily.

"But you are here now, and that's what counts. You did what you had to do."

"Goodbye Mello." Charmy sadly could not promise him he would not be forgotten. Many responsibilities lay ahead of him, and Mello the bee would not be there to help. Saffron held his hand.

* * *

Two.

The marvelous city of Echidnopolis was renowned for its towering beauty. But seeing it up close made Sonic awe out loud. Its skyscrapers extended beyond clouds. And the theocratic-republic was self-sustaining. A power many kings craved. But to have such a beautiful city on Mobius was given at a price to the people, to the animals who were not echidnas. No other race could live in the prosperous, technological capital city. The High Council of Echidnas-as they called themselves- made sure of that. But they had to have been doing something right. Their city participated in no wars, in return what the sowed was peace. Their city remained pure of race or the chosen people, according to the one god they worshiped. It was the only monotheism on the planet, and everyone else loathed and coveted the echidnas for it. They did welcome guests from many lands however. One of which was with the council.

"One Merlin Prower," the council member looked to see the old man. He was smiling with arms crossed. "Yes. Requests, and I quote, "To see the hidden, secret, archives that everyone knows exists." The old Echidna did not need his glasses for this one, he pushed them aside. The members stood thirty feet from the ground. All the podiums were decorated with banners of a familiar green emerald.

"Yes." Merlin was absolutely and unequivocally sure that this time, he got them.

"Quite. And did it occur to you Mr. Prower that we an honorable people do not hide anything from our people? If they do not know, it does not exist. Where is your proof of this secret library?"

"As a matter of fact, I have the proof here with me." He rummaged through his large robes over and over until he found a rumpled paper. "This is a letter written to me from a deceased echidna known as Locke of Sabre, of house Edmund." He almost could not keep his excitement, he rummaged again for his glasses. "If you will allow me to read it-"

"No need. Paper!" With a sudden wind the paper was taken by a force incomprehensible to Merlin.

"My word." The echidnas never ceased to amuse the wizard.

"Yes, here we are. "Dearest Merlin, I write to you in great urgency. I cannot trust anyone but you. You have been a close friend to me, my family, and my clan. Yours will never be forgotten. I am displeased to inform you that my time here is short. That is why I am entrusting you with a book, you will know it when you see it. The book is hidden under the city. And when the time is right you must give this book to my son. We fair you get this letter well. With great love, Locke of house Edmund."

The titled Mitre, whose name was Darwin folded the letter and exchanged glances with Merlin. "Mr. Prower, this is not the first time you have requested this. Scan! And something tells me it won't be the last. The scan shows that this is in fact Locke's handwriting, but Mr. Prower I can assure you these allegations of there being a hidden library are false. Would you have any other "noteworthy" claims?"

The letter reached Merlin who snatched it with offense. "Well, I, I-" He tried rummaging again but that time it did not work.

"No? Then this meeting is adjourned. Praise Enerjak." Simultaneously the echidnas repeated what the Mitre had said. "You know, if I may add something Mr. Prower, off the record, you are always a dear friend to us of the council and the people of Echidnopolis, your acts of heroism could fill a book and a half in our library. We simply, with respect, ask you not to waste our time. We thank you for your understanding."

The old fox left the huge, public hall, a wild, uncontrollable grimace haunted his face. "Who are they to tell me I'm wrong? I've seen the library myself! Only, if I remembered how to get there." He scratched his long, white beard. He glared at the floor he was stepping on. "Echidnas. Psh. They get more fanatical every century."

"Tell me about it, I practically have to beg knuckles to get the emeralds."

Merlin gazed for a moment, he saw a familiar face. "Perfect, you've come at an excellent moment. Perhaps you can knock some sense into these hard-headed dimwits." Merlin as always was not particularly phased that Sonic had shown up. "I've been expecting you, sooner in fact. What is it my boy, spit it out then, go on, what it is? You need something from me? You need my help to 'run the gauntlet', yes I understand. Come with me my boy." Merlin walked on towards the great echidna library.

"Run the… what?"

"We don't have all day."

Sonic followed, Merlin always surprised him. He caught up with him and they sat near the biggest pew of books anyone had ever seen. Merlin stared at some of the books and said nothing. While Sonic waited for something to happen.

"Uh, well Tails is back."

"Hm? Whose tails, my tails? I only have one tail, my nephew Miles has two tails though. But I'm sure you know that."

Sonic tried not to laugh, it was amusing actually. "Yeah Miles is back."

"Miles is back? Where's he gone? I haven't seen the lad in a time. Time's overdue for a visit I think." Merlin took his eyes off the books. "Well do you need me to find you something or not?"

"R-right. I was wondering if you could help me-"

"Yes, yes."

"Help... me- with something called the Black Arms."

"Alright, what else?"

"Someone called Ékleipsi̱. And someone called Éleos. And something about shadow creatures. And about the Inventor which is apparently Tails."

Merlin was too busy reading one of the books.

"Merlin?"

"Hold on my boy."

He was good at rummaging and he did so with the book. Until he reached a page with a few drawings. "I know nothing of your friends or some Inventor or my tail again, but I have read about these. Evidently these creatures existed before the Days of Fury." He looked at the book as if it wronged him. He quietly questioned the book's credibility, "Of course, we can't know that for sure, because many of our books were lost during that time." He showed him some of the drawings, and sure enough they matched somewhat, but there were none that were creatures of shadow.

"How did you… do that?"

"What this? I knew you were coming. It's quite simple really, just like I know your friend over there has been spying on us for quite some time. Only it doesn't take a wizard to figure that out."

"What friend?" Sonic looked over to see the infamous thorn in his side. He was hiding in plain sight, all that covered below his moustache was a small, flimsy book titled: How to cook Egg, by Dr. Eggman. Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun were covering their faces with less than memorable Eggman titles.

"Well, well, if it isn't Dr. Oblong. You know Eggie, they won't let you check books out, but I've never heard of checking your own in."

Quickly their dynamic readjusted. Eggman tried to look like he hadn't just been caught. "My my, if it isn't my horny hedgehog in my side."

"Already used it."

"Uhm, well, these books are classics! And only for 199.99 Mobiums you can get the whole series, free of charge."

"No thanks, I don't read garbage." Sonic pretended to look at his nails.

Eggman threw his book at his robots, "Keep selling!" He rolled over to Sonic and Merlin. "And this must be the wizard Merlin! Almost as famous as me. I've heard some things about you. But I know you've heard tons about me."

"Go away, I've run out of clever things to say Eggie."

"Unlike you, I don't run out of juice." His cleverness tried to see what they were looking at. To no success Merlin covered it up in time. "Aw, I'll share my egg secrets if you share yours. Besides, we've worked fine together in the past haven't we Sonic?"

"If you consider working for the other team "working together", then yeah, something like that."

"You two are spoilsports. I'll leave you to it then. Merlin. Someone with a forgettable name." He touched both of their shoulders before leaving.

"I understand you kids less and less."

"No worries Merlin, he won't bother us anymore." Sonic showed him the tracker he put on Merlin's robes and set it on a dolly.

* * *

"I promise you I will return. I'll bring back our sister." Espio lightly kissed the unconscious Juanita on her forehead.

"You don't have to do this Espio, you are too reckless."

"Do you know why she is like this?"

The blue chameleon stroked his beard. "It's beyond me, perhaps… she did not want to know the truth. Maybe something spooked her."

"If you care about her as much as I do, you will find a way to heal her."

"I will try."

That was sufficient for Espio to leave the dojo.

* * *

Three.

"No, no. Pretty girl stay here. Pretty girl leave Obasi alone. Pretty girl run back to her momma. No runaways here."

"Who are you calling runaway mister?!" _Calm down Amy, just give the fish what he wants._ She growled, "Fine! Have it your way!" She dug deep in her fashionable purple bag. Gods forbid anyone make Amy dig her bags.

"Who do you think I am pretty girl? You cannot buy Obasi." Obasi the Trident was what they called the ugly goby fish. Only because on his left foot there were only three toes, and three fingers on his left hand. Not a very clever name, more of a play on words-with his mother being a chameleon. His skin was a slimy silver, stripes; one crossed down his forehead down his body, the other two painted his cheeks and down. He also decorated his plain face with rings on his ears and mouth. And so the chameleon goby enjoyed heckling the girl. His slimy face smiled at Amy's misfortune. His smile revealed only a few teeth remaining. One of which presented itself to everyone and everything, even without a smile.

"Here. Three-hundred Mobiums. That should be enough." She tried handing the fish marked bills, which he refused.

"You westerners and your empty promises. I wouldn't take three-thousand Ferrums even if the Iron King himself gave them to me."

"Wait! I have something else."

Amy had been to the Dragon Harbor before, but only once. She would have been six years of age when she was taken from her home. And for that she despised the queen, even though it was her father that was responsible. But it made no difference to Amy.

The Dragon Empire was not old, maybe from the east-where its origin was. But it was the weakest of the kingdoms. One didn't have to be a scholar to figure that out. The harbor was one of the only things still in working order. And it served the Acorns better than sharing the land. The only differences between Acorn and Dragon ships was the shape of the sails. The dragon's sails resembled fish scales, and weren't meant for fighting. Perhaps one day they did have battleships, but if they still existed, they were more east than anyone dared travel. Amy was more than hesitant to enter the _Ah-Bo _or _Little Wave_, but when Amy waved a little golden trinket, a box, Obasi-the shipmaster, did not hesitate to let her travel with them. The greedy fish even offered her a place in his quarters, which she refused. It would be a nauseating ride to the old lands, but looking at the water might help, and not looking at Obasi would help too. She made her way as close to the bowsprit as she could.

The _Ah-Bo_ was long and thin, decorated with dragons from bow to stern. Its shipmaster and crew were hired from a glorified fisherman known more commonly as Yu-Long-Hai to the pirates. The Dragon of the sea hired both pirates and fishermen, it made no never mind to him. The _Ah-Bo_ only carried spices and greens not found in the east and old lands. Apparently the Dragon of the sea owned all notable supply and transport ships in all of Dragon territory. The rest of the ships were owned by Acorns.

The harbor was considerably noisy, there were many merchants and pirates selling all sorts of useless jewelry. A few Acorn ships could be seen farther south.

Fish and salamanders yelled orders and complaints at each other, they would be leaving the dock soon. They spoke the language of the far East, Amy only picked up a few of the words. She looked out dramatically at the setting sun, and then forward again. If the speed of the eastern fish was real, it would only take a few days to reach the Albanian port. There she would make her way to the old castle. Only a boat's ride when she reached the other side of Albion. And then she would see her beautiful castle again, banners would fly and people would sing in the streets like she remembered. Amy sat on one of her luggage. She reached for her neck and found a necklace made of shells. She softly caressed each shell. There weren't very many since it had broken once before. She had left everything else behind, could she stand throwing the only thing she would remember him by?

_I'll miss his birthday, it's coming up._ She dare not throw away the last of the memorabilia. A quiet tear rode down her peach cheek. All that was left of Sonic to her now were memories, and what-if's. She thought of when they first met, how painful it was, but if it wasn't for that she would not have met him. The _Ah-Bo_ took off into the darkening skies, it fled the sun with great speeds.

"Amy?"

The hedgehog turned around, to her surprise it was a friendly, purple chameleon she knew.

"Espio!"

* * *

"Poppa it hurts."

"You have to, it's your duty. Don't squirm, you won't remember this."

"Do you remember your father?" Rouge wasn't particularly interested but she wanted to be. That question got Knuckles to leave his daydream.

"Yes." Knuckles smiled coldly. "I wouldn't call him a father. My mother left him and I always blamed myself." Knuckles adjusted himself, he looked at the dimming lights of his underground home. "I wasn't allowed to see my mother after that."

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright. What about your parents?"

Rouge rubbed her arm in emotional weakness. "I never met them. I was always an orphan. Me and my sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"I don't."

"I'm, sorry. Locke was murdered there too." With the coming anniversary everyone experienced phantom pain.

"I don't mind Knuckie. Losing her was the best thing that happened to me." The bat almost half believed that. She had another drink. "Now we aren't playing right." She motioned at his drink.

"There's plenty more." They both grew silent but Rouge conjured more confidence.

She hesitated for just a moment, "Many times my sister and I didn't know when we would get our next meal. And the old streets of the castle were unforgiving. We stole and we never got caught." The bat seemed proud of that, she took another swig.

"That's why you're so good at it, you've been practicing your entire life." Knuckles chuckled.

"After, she died, I fled to Umberdale, and they caught me." Rouge presented a foreign sign and look of mortality. "In those times no one cared about a stupid thief-girl. Then I was sold to Castle Little Beak," she paused, "they put me in a common house." She drank, Knuckles stared at her solemnly. "I'm not proud of what I did, what I did to survive." Her lip quivered. "I've never told anyone that." Rouge looked away.

"Well, I don't see you that way." Knuckles' voice cracked in his honesty. "In fact, hm" clearing his throat didn't help the cracks, "I think you are, hm, perfect the way you are. Hm." He chuckled, "Even if you are still a stupid thief girl." She clobbered him square in the jaw. "Hey! What gives?!"

Rouge would have been more insulted if it wasn't for his sweet but shoddy comment. She pulled him closer and kissed him. They both embraced and indulged each other.

"Hey," he stopped her, "what gives?"

"Oh shut up!" They returned in only a deep kiss.

The two were too busy to notice the powerful yet crumbled emerald outside. It appeared to have awakened again. The flashes were green and were sent to the sky.

One flash.

Another flash.

A third flash.

One. Two. Three.

Don't Look. See.


	16. Chapter 15: The Green In His Eye

**Chapter 15**

**The Green In His Eye**

Walking, running, crawling. _Where am I?_

"You are the only one to blame."

Cream was defenseless unto this unknown enemy. She had the distinct feeling it wanted to harm her. It was dark, so dark. There was grass, she felt it under her feet. Why was she not wearing any shoes? She ran again as she had before.

"You did this."

Where she was going, she did not know. But she did manage to get away from the voice. She saw a hill, it started to fog. She could not see two feet in front of her. She spread her arms and hands in front of her, maybe that would help her not bump into anything.

"Don't be frightened. Everyone has a master. Even him."

There was a new voice, soothing. Cream did not recognize it, but it was a male voice. Maybe it was her father, guiding her in the dark beyond. Atop the hill there was someone. Someone she knew. She ran for him but she tripped. There was an itch.

Why could she not get up? She tried crawling. That did help, although it felt like she was scraping her knees and legs on something. Was it still grass? She was almost there, but there was an itch.

She could see his two tails now. The itch.

"Tails?" She crawled behind him. The itch was unbearable, she had to scratch it.

When she did, she realized she was scratching her eyes. When she looked at her gloves, they were stained with red. Somehow she knew and yet she still panicked. _Is it blood?_

Cream touched the fox and she asked again, "Tails?" Not he but his body responded by falling on her.

"No, no! Tails!"

The fox lay motionless. His eyes lifeless. His mouth gaping. His teeth reddened by hot saliva mixed with blood. His scar opened up. His yellow fur stained as well. He lay there like a dummy on her lap. She tried to wake what could not be awoken.

_Beep, beep._

"26766. Not her. The key."

_Beep, beep._ It was Cream's alarm.

* * *

"Relax, you deserve it."

Amy did feel as if though she had earned some sort of rest. She and her friends had been fighting Eggman for so long. It felt as if she forgot what it was like to cozy up by a fireplace, snuggle next to someone. Someone you loved. Someone like Sonic. It was strange to see him dozing off to sleep, yet he did so all the time. He was asleep next to her. The beach seemed colder than she remembered. Perhaps that was because of the coming season. The wind did start to pick up, it was chilly. It made her skin crawl and her fur rose.

Amy tried warming herself but she found herself running. She was looking for Sonic. He no longer was beside her. And she was certain he was in trouble. She screamed for help, but no one came. The village nearby was destitute of people. It felt as if her quills shrieked with her alarming sense of desperation. _Something is wrong. It's bad, it's real bad._

Where was her Sonic? Then she saw them, the people from the village, but they weren't from her planet. The blue and red being she saw back at Marmolim, Shadow, and a white hedgehog she did not recognize-off to the side, a black, horned being with robes, another red, fiery beast with horns, a pink or red female animal, the minted stranger she did recognize, Dark Oak even, a blue skeleton perhaps, a green cloud or essence, and others that were blurry to her sight.

They were all lined up behind her, pointing. At her? The beach? As the sun went down she barely noticed they were all pale and they looked deathly. Their eyes were all sorts of colors: red, blue, green, pink, silver, brown, and black even. They were bright and all looking at her. She saw the sea, what they were pointing at. All her fears, became real. She knew what was going on. And the air welcomed night and all its secrets.

A blue hedgehog flailed his arms for his life. He choked on the water that began to consume him. What was Amy to do? She was held back, but she knew she had to save him. When she finally broke whatever chains held her, she dove in to rescue him. Just the touch of freezing water was enough to send her body into massive hysteria. She couldn't move for a moment. But she had to try. She called out to him, her voice was hoarse.

The last thing she saw before waking was her inability to save him, and the inevitable drowning.

"Grab her!"

Amy woke up to have the cold sea skimming and washing her face completely. She screamed in confusion.

"Pull!"

Quickly the Trident pulled Espio who narrowly grabbed the pink hedgehog's feet. They had her dangling over the _Ah-Bo_ before gaining strength and pulling her back to safety. All three fell on top of each other, hearts pounding.

Between breaths Obasi spoke first, "Pretty, girl, kill, Obasi. Pretty, girl, Insane."

Then Espio, "Amy, are you hurt? I didn't know you were a sleep walker."

"Neither did I."

When they gathered themselves, Espio commented, "At first we thought you were ignoring us. Luckily we caught you in time."

"Quiet," Obasi interrupted, "the water."

Both Amy and Espio looked over the ship. It was dark enough to not be able to see clearly, but the moon gave just about enough light to reveal something in the water.

The fish had his finger over his mouth when walking over to them both, "Happens to every fisher. Always in the water, always watches."

For a moment it seemed like a jagged rock was next to the _Ah-Bo, _but it moved along with it. A few seconds later a giant amount of hardened skin submerged. It revealed three long, jagged, spikes.

"Always watches."

* * *

Before Cream went back to sleep she walked downstairs to get a snack. Leaving her room unattended and a disorderly bed. On the ground lay the yellow plushie, it had fallen when Cream got up.

When she made her way back she found the plushie back on her pillows. She rested easy that night, with no worries.

Always watches.

* * *

"Where are we? Merlin!"

Sonic remembered the day he met the girl, the day he was given his power. She was there, hanging from a rope under a vat of chemicals. He felt strength in his arms and legs. Even his eyes changed. Only this time he wasn't his young self, he looked over himself, he was the same.

"Do you remember what I gave you?"

"What? I don't understand. She needs my help." Sonic looked over to Amy again, this had been another one of Eggman's traps. The Master Emerald was being taken by him, but he needed to save the girl. The emerald gave off a bright light. It was too late, the girl fell into the vat before he could get to her. She struggled for a bit.

"What I gave you so many years ago, must be returned."

When the hedgehog rescued the girl, he came out unscathed. But the chemicals made the girl's skin turn pink. He looked up to see a tall, furry, brown, beast.

"Do you understand what must be done? To prevent another Emergence Wave."

"Yes, I understand."

"Good. Seek me out."

"Where? Where are you?"

"Don't look. See."

"Merlin!" Sonic opened his eyes, it was dark, and there were ruins around him. And a fire, next to the wizard.

"Hold your tongue. You have to rest now my boy."

Sonic did as he was told.

* * *

"We pray, to the Father, the Mother, the Brother of Dreams, the Builder of Houses, and the Calmer of storms. We pray to the five, in their name, Amen. Blessed be the lord gods. Amen." When the Archbishop was done with his sermon, all animals in attendance stood and restated the words before leaving, a couple at a time. He noticed Sally was among those last left in the large cathedral.

Sally sat reverent in one of the pews. And when the Archbishop approached her she looked up at him.

"Sister Sally," the bishop was more than forthright, "what brings the queen to the humble house of Lords of Men."

"Tell me bishop, the echidnas would have me believe that there is only one God. King Arthur taught us there were seven. And now you tell me there are only five. Who am I to trust?" Sally the cynic, she might have been called there in the cathedral, and amongst the believers.

The bishop smiled, he was asked that question at least once a day, "The echidnas would also have you believe that their Enerjak resides in an emerald. Chaosism and Preservationism are one and the same. You mix chaos, and perfect chaos, or Light Gaia, and Dark Gaia. The fact of the matter is, is that the demon Mordred has come to confuse the minds of the nobles and believers alike."

"Mordred?" Sally normally would be uninterested in the ramblings of another prophet, but she remembered that name from her studies long ago.

"Yes, the killer of kings, and damner of men." The bishop was also a chipmunk like Sally, perhaps they were relatives. But who didn't claim relation to the crown these days.

"King Arthur's son?" She tried to remember the tales.

"So they say. They also say that he doesn't damn men, but works to damn the already damned. But that's not why you are here, is it sister?"

"No."

"Have you come to cleanse your soul?"

Sally thought about the dungeons. "Just to find comfort bishop."

The bishop embraced the queen's shoulder, making her guards behind her tense up. ""Fear not and find consolation,"" He appeared to be quoting sacred writing, he also left her and walked down the cathedral, ""for the demon has come to the realms of men, and comes to destroy the wicked and false." There is nothing to fear for the noble and righteous."

"Then what does that make me." Sally thought about the dungeons again and did not find consolation.

Sally noticed a familiar rabbit amongst those who were last leaving. She hurried out of the cathedral, guards following.

"Miss Vanilla!" She called out to one in the small crowd before she could get away. The rabbit turned.

"Your Grace," Vanilla had a particular tone the chipmunk remembered. The rabbit seemed impatient, probably thinking about getting home to Cream-luckily Vector was looking out for her then.

"I don't suppose you received any of my letters?" Sally was all business, she forgot she shouldn't particularly be that way around Vanilla.

"As a matter of fact I have. With respect your Grace, as I've told you before I've resigned, and I don't plan to come back." Vanilla was cold towards the queen. Part of her didn't mean to, maybe it was the coming weather.

"I'm, ah. I'm sorry. Where are my manners, how have you been?" Sally was less than shrewd this time, she scolded herself inside for it.

"I've been well. Mourning." Vanilla was more honest than she wanted to, but the queen made her a little nervous. She shivered at the cold, rapid wind. She could barely see the queen before one of her guards lit a lantern.

Sally thought of what she should say, "Yes, it's a sad time for all of us." The rabbit made a face that said she wanted to drop the conversation immediately and leave. But she was more respectful than that, except not with the queen obviously. "May they rest." Sally bit her lip, scared of how Vanilla might have reacted to that. "Miss Vanilla. You're-"

"Vanilla is fine," the rabbit was heating up nicely with rage in the cold.

"Yes. Vanilla, you're family served the crown well," Sally tried to come up with something remotely neutral to say, but part of her knew it was for nothing, "and you did as well. I'm only asking you to come back to the council because we need someone with your expertise in laws and-"

"If I may speak freely, your grace."

"Ah, but, of course."

"I do not wish to sound the least bit indignant, but both my sister and my husband gave their lives for that," she stopped, Sally knew what she was going to say, "for your father, and they did so brazenly and with propriety. What I did, I did for my daughter." Vanilla reconstituted herself, she noticed she was almost crying and shouting. "Your Grace," Sally felt guilty at this point, she nodded her head, "I respectfully decline your request."

Sally moved her mouth as if to say something, but pursed her lips anyway.

"If you'll excuse me."

Outside a few flakes of snow drooped down to the ground slowly. And the trees shivered and agreed with the Archbishop's words.


	17. Chapter 16: Nine Yrs St, Eight Yrs Lt

**Chapter 16**

**Nine Years A Saint, Eight Years Too Late**

Tails had scanned the plant and most of the seed was still intact. It worried him to see the plant grow so fast. A single root had reached and broken the bottom of the pot and climbed all the way back up to the dirt. The stem was sturdy enough, and there were two little leaves poking out. Another scan would show that the seed closed again, but the root was still growing. Unfortunately Tails only had one seed, and he could only guess how Seedrians and Thorndrigans were born. He wondered if they were even born through seed, and not traditional mammal birthing. But that would be odd, because _she _was a plant. From time to time the actual plant would glow inside, from green to white, and back to green again.

The seed was the first thing Tails moved, and he made sure it got enough sunlight. He placed it in his garage which was large enough, but it had no vehicles or unwanted odors or gases. The garage itself had two garage doors which slid directly upwards when opened. There was an old couch and a few boxes that were his parent's. The garage was separate from his beach house, which was considerably smaller than his parent's house. But cozy enough for Tails.

The seed filled Tails with grief, sorrow, but excitement. Not only did the science/math or whatever calculations the fox did not work, but by a sane person's standpoint, it just didn't make sense. Not to take away from Tails' sanity, but the Idea that someone deceased would be somehow reincarnated and born again in a plant was insanity. However, Tails was no stranger to building things that made no sense to the average mind. But this was a plant, an organic thing-not metal. Reasoning with the problem did not help Tails, talking to the seed did. It comforted him to think that when he did talk to the plant, she heard him. Tails was not religious, he focused more on logic and reasoning, but through him, he had some sort of faith, faith that he would see her again. Through this impossibility, through this tiny green plant.

Cream on the other hand did not know what the plant was, or where it came from. While she helped Tails move some of his things to his beach house, she wondered if Tails remembered what day it was today. She couldn't help but giggle every time they had passed each other with boxes preoccupying them. Today was a monumentally cheerful day for Cream. Nine years ago this day she was born. Apparently nine years and two days ago something bad happened, which always made folks socialize that with her day, or so she thought. That never stopped her mother though, she made herself cheerful for her daughter.

That was another thing, now that Cream was older, she had been asking questions about her father in her mind. But she was smart or maybe polite enough not to ask her mother. But she was no stranger to the Idea of a widowed mother. Tails did not have any parents, Amy never talked about hers. Although, Sonic did still have his parents. It was all a jumbled mess. But from what her mother had told her, was that her father had died. And Cream would notice her mother saddened during her birthday, so she put the two together. Perhaps her father died when the bad thing happened. The mad king was not a term of phrase that was readily accepted by the public, even though they made that up. And Cream was smart enough to pick up on it.

Cream awaited for the right moment, perhaps Tails was planning something for her. Knowing him though, it was risky. And it did not help that coincidentally the day the banquet was, landed precisely on her day of birth. Nonetheless, she waited for him to say something first.

"Well, that's the last of it. Thanks Cream." They both stood panting outside Tails' garage, a few boxes remained on his porch.

"Are you ready for tonight? Mother says there will be lords there!" Cream thought it weird for a moment, mentioning her mother all the time. She wondered if that was childish. How could she tell though? The only one that she spent her time with that was anywhere near her age was Charmy, but she knew Charmy was beyond childish.

"Lords huh?" The one to Castle Little Beak and, what's the other one? I always forget."

"I dunno. I've never met a lord before." Cream seemed distant, she was still thinking about her day. She started to stare off into the noisy beach, while tugging at her glove. When she looked back she saw Tails was unlocking his door. "Let me help you with the rest of these." The rabbit grabbed for one of the heavier boxes and took it inside. She was surprisingly strong for her tender age of nine, perhaps it was the powers of the emeralds that bestowed them on the Sonic team. Amy had her Piko Hammers-which were produced from thin air. Sonic had his speed, Knuckles his strength, but for Cream, it was most likely her incorruptibility.

Even though she did not feel that way, she knew her team talked about her behind her back. But it was the way they said, "Cream is a saint," "Look do you see Cream, she's never sad," or "she's always happy," Cream this, Cream that. Cream wasn't a saint, she knew that. She despised being called that or anything along those lines. If ever there was a saint it was far from Cream. Give the title to Tails or Sonic, Gods knew they deserved it. But not her.

Tails happily accepted her help, and even smiled genuinely, at the thought of who or what was waiting for him in his garage. "Come with me." He said after they finished with the boxes.

"Alright." Cream smiled, she obliged even though she knew her mother was waiting for her.

Tails left one of the large doors open, he sighed a welcome sight at his plant. In that little time the plant had grown a few more inches.

"Are you going to tell me what that's all about?" She asked, pointing at the pot. They both took a seat in his old, dusty couch making him sneeze unexpectedly. "Gods bless you." She giggled.

The fox wagged his tails excitedly, he looked like he wanted to tell her, which in turn made her excited. "I'll, tell you tonight. But it's a surprise!"

It was hard for Cream to hold in her emotions, but she did so expertly. She was convinced it had to do with her day, but she didn't say anything as to not spoil it. "I promise," the little girl finally couldn't help but smile wildly.

* * *

"Arrest her! Guards!" The bull of a woman shrieked from atop the throne. The Iron Queen's loud remarks did not go unnoticed. Two guards came to the pink hedgehog. And all Amy could do was ask why. The two guards that were still citizens of Knottingham and not of Iron shackled the hedgehog. Amy knew there would be changes when she came home, but this was not what she had in mind.

King Ban of Knottingham insisted, "Surely my queen, this is not necessary." Why the Iron King had sent his queen to marry King Ban was beyond some people, but more obviously to join the two kingdoms. The old hedgehog climbed down from his throne apoplectically. "Unhand her this instant!" Both commands made the guards look a bit queer.

The queen was tall as she was fat. It was said that whatever Jun Kun himself did not eat he gave to his wife, mind you that kingdom is said to be starving. The ox queen only shouted louder, making the guards tremble in fear. They took the hedgehog away from the massive halls. Every time the queen shouted half the kingdom heard. Even the banners waved erratically. The banners of which was the sword of Sir Lancelot: Arondight, with a single rose circling the steel.

King Ban approached the queen, "That was my daughter!"

"Huh! Do you know how the Iron King treats deserters?! He hangs them, parades them through the city and puts their heads on spikes!"

"Surely my queen, it will not come to that!" The king excused himself, absolutely livid.

Amy tried with all her might to be brave. When the guards left her in the dungeon she immediately picked up the smell of something rotting.

"Oh, what have I gotten myself into this time?" Amy shivered with fear, her cell was small, but in the dark she could not see her other cell mates. She wondered if she was even alone in her own steel bars. All she could do was wait. And so she did, she sat and did nothing.

"I don't care who told you what! Let me through!" At least she was going to have company soon. She saw a torch come her way. Her father knelt and reached for her daughter.

"Daddy!"

"Don't worry Amelia, I'll set you free soon enough." Between bars they each grabbed what they could. Amy noticed more wrinkles and more white hair on her father.

"What- what happened? How, did you recognize me?"

"Amelia, I think a father can tell. You're still my daughter. Changing colors won't ever take that away. It does suit you though."

It wasn't much but what he said was enough for Amy to snivel. "I've missed you so much."

"I know." When he let her go he exhaled deeply. "A lot has changed since you were here. But I knew you'd come back to me, I knew they wouldn't hurt you. Gods! Did they hurt you? If those churlish Acorns laid a hand on you so help me-"

"No, no daddy! They did no such thing."

"But, they abducted you."

"I don't know if they did."

"Tell me darling, talk to me." The king repositioned himself to get more comfortable.

"Well, I don't remember much from that night. I was actually hoping to ask you that myself. It's weird but, I never thought I would see you again, let alone talk to you about this." For a moment there was a mutual understanding. "I remember, getting on the boat, but it was with you. An-and you took me to see uncle Bors in, in Little Beak. But I never saw you again." In her speech she desparate.

"Bors! He, why? I never-" The King was befuddled. "Dear I never took you away. And why didn't Bors tell me!"

"He told me you knew, and that you couldn't come." The mystery deepened in the king's heart and his mind became more flummoxed than before.

* * *

"Presenting: Governor Ronald of Thumbnut (a walrus), Governor Sir Frederick of Drabdun (another walrus), Governor Sir Bryce of Hayseed (a cat), Governor Sir Gavin of Pipshire (another walrus), Governor Sir Maerwynn of Pipshire (a chipmunk), Governor Sir Catrain of Umberdale (another chipmunk), Governor Sir Eleanor of Newcork (walrus again), Lord Governor Sir Tristan de Castle Auburndale (a coyote of the east) and Lord Governor Sir Bors de Castle Little Beak (a hedgehog of the east)!

The crowd in the party hall applauded. There were five extensive tables that covered the length of the room. Not one chair or table would be empty. As they were announced the governors and lords took their places and waited for the queen to sit first. There was also a sizable fireplace at the end. The room was adorned with banners and plates and food. Courtesy of Sir Charles, there were flying toy-airplanes and all manner of playthings for the kids of the noble families, which were scattered. Queen Sally, her council and other notable nobles stood in the middle table while others filled the room. Meanwhile a small band of instrument players were off to the side playing: _Of Men And Kings,_ a particularly upbeat song, but an old song. The strings and pipes sounded more pleasantly in the large hall. It was a cacophony of assortments, far-off delights, and Arthurian songs.

Vector came in with Vanilla, Tails and Cream. They sat a table away from the nobles, close enough to the well-known smell of Ronald of Thumbnut, whom insisted to sit closer to the queen. She wasn't singularly fond of it, but she accommodated. Lastly, the fashionably late arrived, Knuckles with Rouge. It was obvious that Rouge had made Knuckles wear a tie, he wrangled and tossed it about every five minutes. Rouge wore a pristine, dark, purple dress, she stood out because of its many sparkles.

Tails also became uncomfortable with his father's tie. But Cream made sure he kept it on. Not long after, the queen took her seat as did everyone else. Soon there were long talks of wars and rumors outside the Acorn borders. Even Sally despised this part more than the coming drunkenness.

The serving of the meals were entrusted to the squires, each-and some provided by the queen-made their way, balancing, with large containers and flagons for the nobles.

"'Ere boy." The squire tried his very best not to smell Ronald, but the walrus pulled him closer and made a joke about a distant relative who was a squire that died. There were many laughs from the governors. Sally looked away disgusted.

When another squire reached Vanilla and the others he asked "What'll it be malady?"

"Water."

The squire was used to being jested so he patiently restated, "We have wine, or ale, malady."

"Water. For me, my daughter and her date." Rouge laughed and elbowed Tails.

"I, I could break a barrel of rum for you if you'd like?"

"Gimme' that kid." Knuckles reached for a flagon and helped himself.

"It's quite alright dear." The squire walked away puzzled.

"Are you sure you can handle that Knuckles?" Vector being older than Knuckles thought it his responsibility to ask.

"You aren't that old bub. What are you like twenty? Twenty-five? Ah forget it."

"He's right, I'll be watching you tonight." Rouge reminded her date.

"Yeah yeah, get off my back mom. YIIE!" Rouge drove a good pinch in his side.

"Don't you make a scene tonight!" The other side of the table appeared shifty, so the couple tried to play it off as if it was nothing.

Vector asked, "Hey, where's Christopher?" That made Tails and Cream look over, puzzled as well.

But Knuckles only shrugged. "We thought, he might be with you. Maybe he's with Sonic."

Next the squires separated and served different bird jellies, peafowls garnished with colorful feathers, and pheasants dressed with gebraten milch.

Not only was Knuckles near unconsciousness but his inability of finishing his first drink marveled the animals across from him. "And then thrr' was'h this'h guy, he, he, he, he, took, he took, my emerlads, and, and I'll never'shee my emerlads again!" Rouge's better judgement pre-warned her about this becoming and incident, she only shook her head in disappointment.

Next there was Bunyoh, courtesy of Yu-Long-Hai, Klein Krebs, Heathen Cakes, Roast of Kings, Cassola de Carn, Civero de Calvaticina, Erbolates, Saumon, Shrympes, Brat Ruben, Cucumern, Funges, Minces, Lasanis, Rys and Ryse of Fleyshe, Torta: Bianca, Commune, d'Agli, von Epffel, and many more sweet dishes served over a few more courses.

Cream stopped eating by the end of the first course, Tails the second, Vanilla and Vector by the third, Rouge had to stop Knuckles from eating the table throughout all courses, and Sally excused herself multiple times to take a breather.

Lord Bors approached the queen. "Your grace, if I may." He signaled for them to speak more quietly. "Where is my niece?"

Sally became quizzical. "You're niece?" The tanned hedgehog paused and looked like he had been hiding something.

"Excuse me." The old hedgehog quickly and quietly sped from the hall disappearing into the night.

Sally excused the thought of whatever Lord Bors could be talking about.

Night was at its peak when Sally addressed the hall, "Nobles, Governors, and Lords, friends one and all. We gathered here today to celebrate not one, but all animals alike. The events which forged the team you see before you were grave and dire. When the plants, the trees, and all other living things started dying, they were the ones to respond first and foremost to the call. And the call sent them beyond leagues into space. They fought, they conquered. They bled, they died."

Tails felt his entire face clench, his cup was just about full.

"But we of the council asked that you come here, to commemorate the one lost to them, and us. We were lucky to have her but for a moment. Today we will mark the thirty-ninth day of Starfall, a day to remember not the mad king, but to remember -, and everything she did for this planet." Sally looked towards Tails.

"Cheers!"

"We also are honored to have a Prower with us, I was told that he lead the expedition. Perhaps he has some words to say." Sally sat back down, hoping it wasn't too much to ask of the fox.

The name resounded throughout the hall like a loud firework, people hushed and whispered to each other of the amazing, or courageous or even sensational, Amadeus and Rosemary Prower.

Tails was more than reluctant, but Cream encouraged him to do so. When he got up, everyone but the crickets outside were silent. "I uh. I." The onlookers respectfully waited, others giggled. "Wh-when she came to us, she was a stranger, and she didn't know anybody. She was- desperate, confused, and.. all of her family, had just then been killed. She had Courage, and not specifically for battling the Metarex with us, but for standing, as the last of her kind. She- she meant," Tails cup was overflowing, he sat back down.

The audience quietly and regardfully applauded, none of them knew who she was, but they were grateful for her.

Sally got up once more, "Before you leave, be sure to visit the new and improved fountain of Thumbnut Square. We were lucky to have Governor Ronald find us a sculptor in time."

Tails motioned for Cream, "I need to leave, please." Cream glanced over to him, she then whispered to her mother. And at once Cream and Tails left the hall, even though the festivities were far from over. Cheese was forgotten again and he followed.

The pathway from the castle to Thumbnut Square was lit with fancy torches. When they arrived they saw how the fountain was improved. It was a statue of her holding a flower. Tails almost lost his dinner when he saw her, so the scurried away passing a yelling hedgehog and a porcupine.

"You said you would keep an eye on her! What am I paying you for anyway? Oh Gods he's going to kill me. It's your head or mine pal!"

When the duo reached the beach house, Tails could not be any more grateful. They sat in the comfortable carpet while Tails started a fire.

"You saved my life back there. I owe you one."

"Anytime, really." Cream felt bashful when she felt she was being praised. "What, were you going to say, back there?"

"Hm?"

"You said, "She meant," something." Cream inquired, part of her knew, but the other refused to believe. Meanwhile an angry, panting, Cheese flew in the house through an opened window.

"Oh. Well, I thought everyone knew."

"Knew what?" Cream's eyes widened.

"That I, you know. That I kind of, really, like, a lot, loved her." Tails thought it safe to confide in Cream.

A second dagger dug deep into Cream. _It's… not fair. _With that combined with the reality that maybe Tails had forgotten her birthday was too much for the rabbit.

"That reminds me," he started, going for the pot. When he brought it back he sat again. "This."

Perhaps Cream wouldn't go home with an empty feeling that night.

"Sonic gave me this after-" Cream in one motion swooped up to the fox and pecked Tails' cheek, she then realized what she had done and left the house, red-faced.

"What was that all about?" Tails asked the blue Chao who was face-palming.

* * *

"None of this makes any sense, I have to get to the bottom of this. Amelia you don't understand."

"Daddy, understand what?"

"I started a war over you."

"What?"

"All because I was told the Acorns took you."

"Who told you?"

"My most trusted advisor. Antoine D'Coolette."


	18. Chapter 17: The Importance Of One Boy

**Chapter 17**

**The Importance Of One Boy**

"Huh?" There was drool on the echidna's mouth. Other than the splitting headache he wondered where Rouge was. He was tucked in nicely in his bed, _hopefully… I can…. make it up to her._ He hadn't felt the warmth and comfort of a bed in years. He thought that ended his spree of sleeping outdoors, which made him angry. But he came to his senses again wondering what trouble Rouge went in to get him there. As he tried climbing out of bed he fell on the hard floor. When he got up he thought of Rouge again, "Man, I messed up big." He sniffed something cooking, smacking his lips he smelled breakfast.

"Morning sugar." The voice came from his kitchen.

"Rouge?" His voice resonated louder than he anticipated. When he came to he whistled. Rouge was wearing something other than her suit for a change. Shorts and a shirt she found lying around. Knuckles lay his shoulder on the circular frame of his room door. "I guess you live here now?" He joked.

"I'm sorry. It was late, and I thought-"

"It's fine. Thanks for uh, tucking me in. You uh, hm, make a great mother." He sat on his old wooden table close to her. Rouge gave an odd look at him. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to." She smiled while handing him a plate.

"Thank you. Uh, s-sweet-ie."

"You knucklehead."

The morning of was chillier than was Knuckle's comfort. Dark clouds hid the sun and scattered throughout the kingdom. The beauty of the landscape always made Knuckles proud. And he had the best view atop Angel Island. He decided the day should be filled with him digging around the ancient ruins. Grabbing his old shovel claws he said goodbye to Rouge. He made his way south, he spent a few hours digging here and there, but the treasure hunter found only a few scraps of tattered clothing and rough, clay pot. He took the pot, _maybe she'll like this._ Nearing his old shack of a house he did not expect to find a familiar hedgehog admiring his emerald. The minted stranger stood looking at it while speaking to Rouge.

"Friend Knuckles! I was just admiring your uh, what did you call it dear? Master Emerald?"

"Yeah, but don't try to take it from him, I still have the scar." Rouge displayed a small mark of darker skin across her shoulder.

"I said I was sorry. Besides, you had it coming." Knuckles climbed the ruins, standing below the two.

"Rude." The bat climbed down and entered the shack.

Knuckles looked at his emerald, he wondered what the stranger wanted. He hadn't seen him in a few weeks, perhaps months. At one point Knuckles did distrust the stranger, but seeing as to him having healed Tails was just enough to change his mind.

"What brings you here to my Island stranger?" Knuckles crossed his arms and sat.

"As a matter of fact I was asking your friend Rouge if she knew anything about the history of your world, she told me you knew better than she."

"Oh yeah? What do you wanna know?"

Éleos sat himself next to the echidna. "There is a certain someone that has intrigued me. I read somewhere that he was a dark cultist. Does that sound like something you know?"

"Uh, well you're really testing my memory here. He's that uh, the Mogul guy." Knuckles scratched his head trying to remember.

"Yes." The stranger looked back at the emerald and sneered. "Where would one need to go to acquire such great Knowledge as you have done?"

For a moment the echidna felt more than flattered. "Well, I read it, in a book."

The stranger became ecstatic, "May I read it?"

"No can do buddy. It is forbidden."

"Well, what a shame. I guess, I'll be leaving then." Éleos' demeanor became dark and full of inefficacy. He looked towards the emerald again as he rose. A few chunks of green emerald had begun to stick to each other from the base. Knuckles questioned if the stranger would be there any longer, he felt as if he had little to nothing to offer him. And he was beginning to annoy him. When the minted stranger stepped down there was a loud crackle. Knuckles himself ducked and rose to his feet when he realized it came from behind him. The stranger furrowed his brow ferociously and Knuckles asked, "What the?"

The Master Emerald shone with great intensity and magnitude. Knuckles looked away for fear of the possibility of going blind. Éleos watched and waited for what the emerald might do, for a second he thought he was in trouble so he braced himself until the emerald dissipated in light. What the emerald called upon from the other side was a small, human girl with clothing too big for her and a wheelchair. With force, the emerald had thrown the girl from her chair a few feet from it..

Half of her body intended to get up and what force she could muster was expressed in a low voice, "W-why, are there two-?" Her frail body toppled over and she became unconscious in a moment.

"Helen?" Both Knuckles and Éleos helped the girl up and carried her to the hut.

* * *

Knottingham's councilors had been reduced to mostly Iron. There was Regina the Queen, King Ban, Antoine D'Coolette (a young coyote) and the three remaining tribal leaders of the East: Yaguy, Raiju, and Gossamer. A representative stood in their place, respectively: The Bride of Rich Nights (a bat), The Bride of Conquering Storms (a lynx), and The Bride of Endless Reach (a spider). They each met in a small council chamber.

The queen always spoke loudly, "What of the Iron Will's mission?"

"They were successful in the capture of the former Bride of Constant Vigil. She calls herself Salma. The Shinobi clan is close to tasting the full power the Irons have to offer." The masked bat spoke.

Then the hooded lynx, "Have you heard? They also are calling themselves dragons now. How pathetic."

Then the masked spider, "Where are they keeping her, Rich Nights?"

"A secure holding place just south from here. My sisters are in charge of the torture, and they are well versed on the subject."

"Good." The queen spoke again, "Antoine, what of our spies in the west?"

Antoine spoke with great confidence, "I have been informed that the queen plans to give aid to the Simians south of the Shimmering Lake."

King Ban interrupted, "May I ask nephew, whom are these spies of yours," The King wanted to see if he could reveal any plot dealing with his brother, but he also did not want to be caught doing so, "I-say this because, well, how can we trust these glorified informants?" The King and Antoine were obviously not related, but the terms became endearing after the King raised Antoine just after his father's death.

"My King, I cannot reveal their identities for their sakes. You know that as well as I do."

"Very well." Ban was not fortunate that time, but he would try again.

Then the queen, "Send the Vanguard to your holding place, and the Will back to the front. I mean to take the Acorns by surprise. I don't care if it takes them all night, I want them there by tomorrow morning, is that understood?!"

The three brides nodded in agreement. And the queen spoke again, "Good, if that is all, we'll meet again in a few months." When they were all dismissed only King Ban and his nephew stayed.

"I was meaning to ask you why you really won't tell me who they are."

"My King, I do not know what you mean."

Ban became impatient and pushed his nephew into a wall. "Uncle! What are you doing?!"

"Don't play coy with me boy. Don't think I don't know what your game is." Ban held Arondight at the ready. He wondered if what he was doing would have major repercussions. But it didn't matter, only his daughter's freedom mattered to him now. And no one, not even Antoine would get in the way.

"Uncle I don't-know what you mean." The coyote's intent was still unclear, but the King knew he was hiding something.

"First I was told that my brother was a traitor, then one of your little birds, and now that _he_ was the one holding my daughter?! Speak boy!"

"Ah- yes, I heard of the return of the princess, how is she uncle?" Antoine tried to speak clearly as his uncle's arm came close to strangling him. The King let go of Antoine and unsheathed Arondight from its scabbard.

"Are you insane?!" The coyote sounded frantic. But the King paid no mind, he was busy admiring his sword.

"You know, they say that Lancelot forged this sword from a dying star. And that its victims can feel not only the sting, but all the fire and ash and power of that star. Would you care to try it out?" The King might have overstepped some moral boundaries, but would he really do it for his daughter?

"You wouldn't dare!" At that the King drove the tip of the sword into the coyote's shoulder making him cry out in agony. Antoine held the sword hoping it wouldn't go in further. "You bastard! Ahh!"

"It takes a bastard to recognize another. What are you and Bors hiding from me?!"

"You fool! You'll be arrested for this!"

"I doubt that very much." Ban pushed the sword in a little further sending Antoine into a new mixture of pain and horror. Blood began to seep out from his wound as he yelled.

"I can't tell you!" Antoine thought he was beginning to faint but the King also noticed this and slapped him across the face.

"Tell me!"

"He-he knows! He'll find out!"

"Who?!" It made the King more furious to have his own advisor be the betrayer. But within he regretted ever even accusing him. But it was too late for that.

"All right! I'll tell you anything you want!" With that promise the King withdrew Arondight and the coyote stumbled onto the ground, clawing at his open wound. "Don't you see? He promised!"

The King pointed his sword right at the neck of the guilty. The guilty gulped nervously and raised his arms in defeat. "Speak."

"He promised me my father. I spoke with him don't you see!" The coyote wasn't making much sense.

"Who promised you? Bors? The Iron King? Whom boy?"

Immediately the complexion of Antoine faded into something evil. "The Dark One." With the name spoken, for a moment it seemed as if all life and light faded from the world and they both were surrounded by a malicious wind. And just as the name had been spoken the coyote choked on an invisible force and then on his own blood. His complexion never changed, only his life was taken. And Antoine fell to the ground dead.


	19. Chapter 18: Aurora's Judgment

**Chapter 18**

**Aurora's Judgment**

"Amy!" Sonic jumped from deep sleep. His dizziness felt worse when he did not recognize where he was. He had been sleeping on a rock, in fact all around him were rocks and mud huts and large stone pillars. When he realized he no longer was in Echidnopolis he felt feverish. He grabbed his head, also feeling a headache. "Merlin?"

The wizard looked around, he had been sitting, studying one of his books. "Don't move my boy. You've been out for more than a fortnight."

"What-happened?"

Merlin walked over to him and sat next to him, studying the hedgehog's condition. "When I teleported us out of the city, the first thing you did was faint. Most animals' first time is difficult, but I thought you could handle it." The fox pulled down Sonic's eyelid, "But something tells me it's more than that." The old fox squinted a few times, it made Sonic uncomfortable. "Tell me my boy, what color are your eyes?"

"What? Uh. Green." Sonic blinked a few times, his sight was filled with fuzzy, black, blotches.

Merlin stroked his beard pensively. "Not anymore."

"What? Merlin, I don't have time for this." The hedgehog stumbled to get up.

"I would advise against that."

Sonic ignored the wizard's heedful advise and comment. He made his way towards a nearby pond. When he looked himself over, he was extremely pale, and what the wizard said was true. His eyes were dark and gray. "What's-what's wrong with me?" Sonic fell on his hands. The wizard set him down again.

"When you can stand properly we'll figure that out."

Sonic noticed something shiny on the ground close to them. "What's that?" He asked.

"Ah, I found it on your shoulder. It seems your round friend set one on you as well." Merlin was talking about the chip Sonic had noticed his rival place on Merlin. "I squashed it, let's hope that stops him."

Somehow, even that small feat made Sonic feel a little better, he dozed off next to the wizard.

* * *

"Oh Sonic. Who will rescue me this time?" In all the years Amy had been battling Eggman, she never quite felt fear the way she did now. Even their battles against the Metarex didn't seem as bad. Although at times she felt complete despair. When Yellow Zelkova almost killed Knuckles for instance. Or when she almost lost Sonic to Dark Oak. It was times like those that she had nothing but Sonic. And that counted for more than she could ever bargain for. Being imprisoned had no danger, but the possibility of endless years in the dark cold was worse. Especially being without the hedgehog she loved. Amy could hear bells from beyond the crypt she was buried in. And then shouting and screaming.

Just then she heard another shout, the clatter of steel, and a moan. Rapidly her father came to her with a lit torch. "Daddy!"

"There's no time." King Ban was holding his sword which probably meant something bad. He unlocked her prison bars. "You have to take this, it's the sister to the Acorn's sword, it might just end the war." Her father handed her Arondight.

"Daddy what's going on?" Amy noticed there was more clanging, and out came another torch carried by a purple chameleon. "Espio?"

"He's right, we have to go now." The chameleon handed Amy some new clothes and a cloak. "Take this, we have to get you out of here."

"I don't understand." Amy did as she was told and put on a black dress of sorts that extended a little past her thighs. The cloak was also a darker tint. When she was finished she grabbed for the sword. It felt almost as heavy as one of her hammers. She sheathed Arondight and strapped it on her belt.

King Ban held his daughter one more time. "Amelia listen, take this information to your brother Hector." He handed her a few documents. "Go to my brother Lionel's castle, on the other side of Shimmering Lake. Your brother will help you unravel this mystery. It's bigger than I anticipated. Tell him it has to do with someone known as the Dark One." He kissed her forehead, and before she could ask about ever having a brother or another uncle, Espio and Amy vanished from out of sight.

"I will come back for you father!"

"Goodbye, Amelia."

* * *

When Sonic woke again Merlin studied him all over. "Where have you been the last couple of months?"

Sonic didn't sound as groggy as before, "I don't know. Castle Acorn, out in space, here with you."

"Focus, anon in space, what did you encounter?"

"Humans, Marmolians, giant snake people, and big plant robots." Sonic wasn't able to remember any other species they encountered. Thinking back made him feel hopeless. He hadn't thought about it since they got back.

Merlin shook his head, "There's someone else my boy, I can see it in your deadening eyes. He might know what is happening to you."

"Éleos, the mint hedgehog."

"Ixis Naugus." All kinds of memories filled Merlin to emotional tire. He stumbled to the ground.

"Merlin?"

"I'm fine my boy. That's the only name that comes to mind. If I can just remember. I remember that name, and the evil wizard's order" The fox stroked his long, white, beard. "We have to research. Luckily we are in the right place."

"I never had the chance, where exactly?"

"Albion of course. Here we may find what happened so many years ago." The wizard looked Sonic over as he stood up. "Well, are you coming? There is an old cavern not far from here. I won't risk another teleport."

As the two walked to their destination the wizard kept prying. "Did you know you talked in your sleep?"

Sonic had remembered dreaming about Amy, "Oh, you heard, uh, well Amy's just a friend-"

"Not that you fool! I know what your dreams are."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I said I know what they are, not what they mean! That's why we're going to the cavern. Really my boy, for the fastest thing alive, you sure are slow."

Sonic's pride was much more hurt on the account that he couldn't run. But he let it go. "Well, what are they?"

When the duo reached the cavern they entered and Merlin responded, "Do you remember, in the days of the king, how I warned you about what had happened in the castle?"

The day that remained in infamy would not be soon forgotten by Sonic, "Yes. You called me through my dreams."

"There is your answer my boy." Merlin looked for a certain wall painting. "And I believe we'll know soon enough, who this person is and where we can find him." The wizard's hand shone brightly, showing them a rough painting on the wall. There appeared to be a large animal holding a staff and a familiar green emerald. They both were under what seemed like a massive city. "I knew it, those echidnas couldn't fool me.

"Then we'll go back to Echidnopolis then."

"No, I fear we will get the same response. I need to consult with my Trust, they will know what to do. You need to find this Éleos, he might be able to help you. Find the emerald too. I see something dark my boy, something is coming. Time is running out for you my boy." The wizard's thoughts were all over the place, and he was making less sense than usual. "When I am able to reach under the city I will come straight to you."

"But how will I get back west in time?'

"It looks like we do have to risk it." From thin air, the wizard pulled his staff and summoned a pocket through space.


	20. Chapter 19: Invisible In The Rain

**Chapter 19**

**Invisible In The Rain**

Tails noted the dark clouds swarming above his new home. He did enjoy the rain, except he had always hated lightning. It had once scared him as a child and would always do so as a teenager. When he looked at his plant again it baffled him how large it had grown, perhaps he needed a bigger pot. Fortunately Cream read his mind and went and got a bigger one for him. They both studied the plant. The one root that had made its way out of the pot was not entangling itself around the actual plant. The seed was still intact but was now as big as Tails' fist. Other roots began to tie themselves around the new pot before their very eyes.

"You never did tell me what the seed was." Cream knew why that was and she blushed a little.

"Let's just keep it a surprise for now." Tails felt that with every day, being with his plant, he could live, and breathe significantly better. He thought about her more often, and it didn't hurt as much as it once did. To help him believe she could come out of the plant he had to throw away logic and reason out the door. Tails was sure it was faith what he believed. It had no other explanation, nor did it need it. He was not ready to become a devout Preservationist, but he did enjoy its teachings. Whatever those might be, he didn't really know what they were-he just liked the concept of faith. He told himself faith was something you believed in and whatever, or however much faith you put in, it came true. Tails never once thought it might come to being somewhat of a believer, but he would do anything to get her back.

But as Tails felt more as one with the universe, Cream had something weighing on her mind. And it wasn't the fact that Cheese was sleeping on her head. He had found a way wrap himself around her long ears. Tails stood a little over the threshold to the garage door staring at the darkening skies. Cream looked at the plant in awe, she asked the fox, "What are you thinking?"

"Huh?" He looked over, "Oh, uh. Nothing."

Cream wondered if she should even ask, "Do you still think about her?" She was definitely not ready to give up Tails to an old memory, and especially not Rouge-she still remembered their kiss.

Tails appeared shocked at her question, "Why do you ask that?"

"Because, I've heard you talk to her. Don't think I don't miss her too."

Tails felt self-conscious, was he really ready to talk about it? Cream did not wait for a response, "You know, we never had a proper funeral."

"I don't think she would have wanted one. Seeing all those sad people I mean."

Cream dropped the conversation, she got up and gave the fox a warm hug. "You're not alone Tails. You have me."

"I know."

"Let me take you somewhere." Cream finally blurted out.

"What, where?"

"Let me show you." The little rabbit smiled innocently, she took the boy outside as he locked the garage door.

* * *

The Great Forest let out a loud yowl and howling winds, a pocket of concentrated space had opened and out came the blue hedgehog. "Must, find him." He could not run, but he began walking.

* * *

The echoic but empty caves were a perfect spot for Merlin to meditate. He surrounded himself with a special powder and some spells painted on the dirt. He chanted ancient sayings and magic through the caverns. The words resounded and bounced off the walls, bringing an atmosphere of protection. He was sitting when he finished his chants, and opening his eyes revealed he was no longer there, but somewhere deeper.

Just then three figures were summoned and waited patiently, then two more figures. The three were just faces, or rather, masks hiding their true identity. One had a dangling necklace of an upside down triangle. The other two figures took the form of bodies, they both were echidnas-a man and a woman.

The male echidna spoke, "The day you call us without warning, is a day dire indeed. Speak Merlin."

"Yes, I need guidance. What must I do? My mind wanders into places I cannot remember." As the fox asked the three did not move, they only stared deep into the wizard's soul.

It was the woman's turn, "What you seek you have already found. You have lost your way, and so will you lose yourself."

Merlin looked to the ground, "I was unable to find Athair as I was charged by the three. But the Chosen is safe. If you mean to tell me that I know whom Athair is, why can you not just show me?"

One of the three spoke, "We have chosen, we have seen. The Chaos Force will guide. For it flows through you, and through everything.

It angered the male, "Aurora this is useless."

The female placed a hand on him and directed to Merlin, "You have failed your task, yours is with another now.

Merlin could not be any more dissatisfied, "But I am lost, I beg you-"

One of the three interrupted Merlin, "Gather the lost steel, restore the King's honor."

"I will not fail you again." The vision dispersed immediately. "Do they mean Maximillian?"

* * *

Cream and Tails had flown to a nearby island. It would have been more pleasant if the weather had not suddenly changed.

"Do you remember pretending to be stuffed back in Chris' world?" Cream giggled.

"Oh yeah!" They both laughed, "And when that kid grabbed Amy."

"I thought he grabbed _you_."

"Oh. Well it's still funny." Tails lay his head on the hot sand. They were close enough to the water that the tide tickled their feet. Cream stared at the boy, looking for an excuse to lay next to him. She scanned him from head to toe, stopping back at his stomach.

"Does it hurt?" She followed the scar with her finger making him giggle unexpectedly.

Tails closed his eyes and thought about what she asked him. "I can still feel the metal inside my body. It never quite healed. It feels cold, actually." The scar had parted some of his fur, showing pink skin.

"Hm." The rabbit went for it and lay her head on the sand next to him. The darkening clouds had reached the beach house. Cream felt a drop land on her cheek. "Do you think we'll ever see her again?"

Without opening his eyes, Tails responded, "Yes. I know we will." There crept a hopeful smile.

The rabbit go up, she was terrified of what Tails' response might be. But she mustered up the Courage. "I-I have something to tell you." She nervously played with her hands while holding her legs closer to her body.

The fox raised an eyebrow, this time he opened one eye. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I, well, it's hard to explain."

Tails got up next to her, "You can tell me. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you." She did not look at him while she said so. Every muscle in her body seemed to cramp, and for a moment she felt paralyzed. She did not want to say it, but she knew she had to. Every hair and every atom through her told her she should just say it.

He put his hands around her head as he did before. He maneuvered her head so that it was facing him, she looked at him, searching, as she also did before. Her heart felt an unrecognizable pull, and another unnatural rhythm. He asked again, "Do you trust me?" He smiled at her.

"Yes." She said weakly. "I-I. Hm."

"What?"

Her eyes avoided him while she avoided the question. But when she started to say the words, she gazed at him once more. "I- love, you." Every inch of her body felt more relaxed, the weight of her words seized to weigh. She waited for a response.

"You, what?" The fox seemed too shocked to give a proper response, naturally his appearance was full of question and intrigue. "Cream, I…" His response made the rabbit panic. "I- I still love _her._" At that she freed herself from his grasp, taken aback.

When the thought of reminding Tails that she was dead came, she stopped and thought of how insensitive that might have sounded.

He continued, "I'm sorry I thought you knew. I tried to tell you, that's what the plant is for."

Cream seemed just as confused as he was. "I-I don't…" Her countenance changed dramatically at him not returning the feeling. She felt embarrassed and hid herself in her arms and legs. When it was clear she began to weep, Tails tried to diffuse the situation.

"Cream, don't- I, I'm sorry." When he tried to touch her she denied him and began to fly away. He went after her, but she flew faster than him. When he reached his beach house Tails decided it was best to leave her alone. The thought of her loving him angered the boy. He entered the garage and in his rage he pushed a box over on top of a table-sending it and other trinkets flying across the room. When the box left the table it made it jiggle, making the plant in the pot jiggle as well, but before it hit the ground he was able to catch it.

He set it gently down again. When he went to sit on his couch he did not forget to kick the box. He cried out, "AHH! What is wrong with me?!" In his fit he hit the couch a few times. Despair filled his mind again, perhaps even worse than it had been before. He hadn't realized until now that he was drenched in water. It had begun to rain right after they left the island. It spooked him when he heard the loud crackle of lightning. He also heard the hard rain hitting the garage.

Tails covered his eyes with his hand. He wanted it all to go away, all the pain, and misery. He didn't want to believe that she could come back. It was hurting everyone around him. But he still clung to his first love. When his hand left his eyes it took him a few seconds to react to someone that was in his garage with him.

"Ahh!" He yelled, he closed his eyes again. "You're not real. You are not real!" Repeating that a few times helped him calm down. But when he opened his eyes again it did not come true. She was, sure enough, there with him. Standing next to the garage opening.

Every little detail was exactly as she used to be, he remembered. Her hair was green, she was his height, and she had blue eyes-just like him. Her dress resembled a flower, its tassels drooped down her legs. Her shoes were green. However, her skin was not tan, it was pale. But she was not dead, or so his eyes told him.

Surprisingly she spoke, "Tails."

They boy closed his eyes again. He did not want to believe. A sharp knife hit his chest when he heard his name being called. "You're not real!"

The girl walked slowly, limping, towards him. When Tails saw again, it looked as if she was hurt, she was walking in the most bizarre way possible-she almost tripped on the box he kicked.

"Tails." She said again, just as he remembered. When she reached him all he did was stare in disbelief. When he said her name he began to cry.

"Cosmo?"

"Yes Tails. It _is_ me." She smiled, still deathly pale. "Tails-"She fell on him. She felt like actual flesh. He caught her and when she looked up she trembled. "Y-you have, to save me."

"Cosmo- I, I don't understand." Tears streamed down his face.

"I'm still alive!"

**End of Part 2**

**I'm just about halfway done with Part 3, and that might mean an early release.**


	21. Chapter 20: Damnable Deadly Deal

**Early Release! Please enjoy the final part of Inventor.**

**Part 3**

**The Fall**

**Chapter 20**

**Damnable Deadly Deal**

**Section V**

**One Cycle Earlier**

"Do you feel that? Cold." In reality Amel the human felt not only cold, but confused. There were a mixture of thoughts he could not make out or keep straight. Both Amel, Anub'Rakish, and Xan'thil were in the outskirts of the city, fulfilling their titles of Majordomo. They three stood patiently and waiting for an arrival. They readied themselves for the ceremony.

The outskirts did not shine as the city did, but they felt proud of their calling. Xan'thil responded with a few clicks but still, in understood speech, "What do you mean? You've never said that about the Pantheon, or do you mean this Beacon?"

Anub'Rakish's voice was thunderous, raspy and deep, "I think he means the Beacon."

Xan'thil continued, "This place is perfectly safe. The Precursors will protect and watch over us, as they have since the Emergence. The High Ones designed this grand place to shield us from the beast and its agents."

Amel breathed heavily.

Xan'thil was put off, "I was only making an observation, and you're putting me off edge."

Anub'Rakish agreed, "He's right Xan, I feel it too."

A path laid out and stretched and led to the city, it started where they stood. The path was golden and shined greatly. Blue lit pillars followed the path as well. Each Majordomo was adorned with not jewelry but fine cloth, blue linen belts, and long, pointy, white hats that drooped down their backs. Except for the Nerubian, for he was large, so the hat only lay on top of his back.

"Did you speak with the new Moíra? What's his name, Moirasil?" Xan asked impatiently. "Did you ask whom it was this time?"

"Yes. Apparently she prevented the Lost One's cataclysm." Amel shifted his weight, still waiting.

"He is and evil plant, what kind of a father would do that to his own daughter." Anub'Rakish was somewhat well versed on the matter.

"She arrived awfully quickly, a shame we are not with the Precursor now." Xan clicked and wiped his teeth. "I wonder how she fits in the Augury."

"Do you think she's Chosen?" Amel inquired.

"It's not for us to decide, the name will come to us." Xan noticed Amel sat himself on a rock and began shivering. "Amel? What is it?"

Amel sighed, "It's Moirasil. I do not trust him."

"How can anyone trust someone with so much power?" Anub'Rakish added.

"Do you think the High Ones were wrong about him?" Amel pondered making Xan'thil gasp.

"Sacrilege! If we are to trust anyone it's them, and the Precursor."

Anub'Rakish commented, "He makes a good point though. No one trusts him, honestly with the power to take life, who doesn't Fear him? It's a good thing even Thanatrofas does not have that power anymore. Expelling him was the best thing that happened to the Beacon."

Interrupting their conversation, came a purple time rift in front of them. It came below two pillars and a lintel. It seemed to suck the space it was appearing in and at the same time-pushing it away. Out came the extinction of all beings, he carried a girl with him. He was dressed in black clothing, always hiding his face from everyone else. He stepped out very brusquely. Darkness seemed to ooze from inside of him, and wherever he stepped it floated with a mass or gas. What could be seen were his hands, there were pointy, glass-like fingers. But the color was a blue, and a splotchy red.

_What dark hell did the High Father fish him out of?_ Amel thought as he got up, and readied for the ceremony.

Xan and even Anub'Rakish heard his thought and Xan responded, _one must not judge._ Amel attempted to calm himself, but Moirasil was a twisted being that could make anyone uncomfortable.

He spoke in a chilling tone, "I…h-have… the girl." The ritual began when the robed being extended a finger and made the girl float towards the three. The three extended their arms, two in front of each other and one in front of Moirasil. When the girl was in place atop each of their arms, Moirasil extended his arms as well, holding her feet.

Amel at the head started, he felt her spirit was light, but she was very tall for her age. Amel, Anub'Rakish, Xan'thil and even Moirasil chanted in unison: "High Ones, we present you with a savior. Oh, great beings lend us your power! Our hearts are filled with gratitude and are intensified by our master, he knows all, sees all, and is all." They stopped and waited for Amel, who had a queer look in his face.

Amel spoke, "From now on you will be known as…" For once the Majordomo could not think of the name. The other three waited respectfully, wondering what the matter was. Eventually it hit him, but he paused doubting himself, "Tharria, The Courageous."

Then the four chanted again, "Oh, great Ones, build this girl a new, exalted body."

For what seemed like a whole cycle of awkward pause and delayed chanting, they finally looked at each other. Never had they experienced something like this. Amel thought to the other two, _something is terribly wrong! We need to let her go now!_ Moirasil had also heard, he only watched, hungry and drooling with a smile on his blotchy face. _I can't! Neither can I!_ The two other Majordomos thought.

From within the girl a dark light came, it was blinding. They closed their eyes and waited anxiously until the light expelled and pushed them away, making the girl wake up and fall-without a body she still hit the sacred ground. Only Moirasil remained unaffected.

"Gah!" The girl choked, her spirit lungs gasping for a different type of air. She began to shake tremendously and her eyes went in the back of her head. It was a gruesome sight yet they did not know what to do, only Moirasil extended his wretched fingers and wrapped them around the girl. He squeezed with all his strength until the darkness went back inside her.

The girl woke up, confused and looking around to see strangers. She was freezing so she trembled again. She wondered where she was, and her last thought of whether her friends made it out safely. She wondered what friends she was thinking of, she could not remember anything. Until, slowly some memories filled her.

Anub'Rakish's claw extended to help the girl, "Are you hurt?" The claw went through the girl's shoulder. Amel crouched to her level.

"What?" The girl asked with a shrill in her voice. "Where am I?"

Xan crouched what he could, "You are in a safe place. Do you not remember?"

"Remember… what?"

The three looked at themselves again.

The girl had a lot of trouble trying to stand up, she could not see. She wondered where the voices were coming from. It was too bright for her to see anything at all. "Where are you?" She asked, worried she had lost her sight.

"We are here with you Tharria." That was Amel, "It will take time for your… new eyes to adjust."

"Who? My name's not Tharria. Who are you?" She tried to be courageous, but she was scared.

Xan looked around confused, "That is your given name…you have always had it."

"I am so very confused, sirs." She began to lose hope, her voice cracked in emotional distress.

The Nerubian got closer, "Do you remember anything little one?"

"I…I remember, my friends. Are they alright?"

Amel took a deep breath, "You are safe now. We will take care of you." He stood up and directed himself to the robed being. "What are we to do?"

The being took the top of the robe off, revealing an anthropomorphic animal, with a blue face, blotched with red. "The Augury has started. The Inventor will bring her back."

"When?" Amel demanded.

"Soon." And in a glimpse the animal was gone.

"Who was that?" The girl asked.

"Someone you should not trust."

"Sirs, you have not answered my other question."

Amel smiled, "You are in the Beacon of Reality. We will explain along the way."

When the three walked the girl down the golden path, a concerned Gnósi passed them. Along the way she recovered most of her sight, she looked and studied herself over. "Did I… die?"

Amel responded, "You have passed. And you were brought here by Moirasil." Amel could not know what the girl was feeling. His first time was confusing at first but he regained all of his past knowledge and memories. It seemed the girl was not fortunate enough to have that happen to her. The girl stopped, she began to cry inanimate tears. Normally Amel would do something to comfort her, but in this occasion he would go right through her. She lay helpless, suspended yet grounded.

Amel thought of what to do. Xan'thil was every bit impatient as always and motioned for them to keep going. Anub'Rakish shut him up though. Amel did consider an idea. He began concentrating some energy on his right arm. His arm felt heavy but he managed. A few seconds later the palm of his hand ceased to light up, and the light that should have been on his hand rose up his arm. "Little one, take my hand." The girl looked up, his hand was different now. She took it and could touch him. He helped her up and they kept leading her to the temple.

Amel asked, "What _is_ your name, little one?"

"Cosmo." She smiled back, and they both embraced what they could from each other.

* * *

Tails had spent the better most part of an hour wailing, on the floor. He kept grabbing at his scar- that every once in awhile would sting him. To him it felt as if it was opening and then closing itself again. The dread that the dead girl he loved came back to him did not help. She had come, done her damage, and left. And just as quickly she had disappeared. How strange it was indeed that he could for a moment touch her, then nothing. The apparition made an imprint in the cold room and in his mind. Was he insane? He seemed to think so.

Not only did she appear to him, but she told him that she needed help of some sort, that she was not dead. But instead alive, and that he needed to save her. How on Mobius could he save her? What was the point? What was the seed even for? The visit wrapped his heart with grief and anger. He many a times looked at his hands in disbelief. Was he dreaming? He clenched his teeth and hands and anything else he could, and yelled. He screamed at the life he had been given, the love that had been taken, the seed that should be Cosmo. When he finished kicking the box a few more times, and throwing his things around, he fell on his couch again. Not having any more words to express. Only more tears to fall.

"I hate you." He softly spoke to the plant that teased and ridiculed him. He also meant it for Cosmo, the girl that took his heart. She could keep it for all he cared. He wished himself dead. The thought was alarming, and the boy crossed a new paradigm. Furthermore he welcomed the new, dreadful thoughts. They poisoned him with great malice and torture. The edge of despair might be too subtle to delineate Tails' juncture. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was her. It was all he saw, it had been carved there. Tt felt like the same metal that made his scar had carved it.

He almost missed the knock on his garage door, which he had closed after Cosmo had left. "I can't do this." He tried to ignore the knock, but the sound returned, softly, once more. _Maybe it's Cream._ He thought. Perhaps she came back to apologize, and had heard him scream. He did not want to make the rabbit wait so he got up, took his time, but made it to the blue button that opened the door. To his astonishment, it was not Cream, but instead, the minted stranger.

Tails held his weight on the wall next to him, "I-was not expecting- hello, Éleos."

The minted stranger looked concerned, "I heard yells. Is everything alright?"

"Yes I-come in." The fox slouched over to his couch and lazily sat. The minted stranger walked towards him, he jumped when he noticed the plant to his right. He began admiring it.

"W-where did you get that?"

"What? That? It's- it's just an alien plant. It's useless." Tails responded, not even looking at him.

The stranger extended his hand to touch it, but he noticed Tails began looking his way, so he stopped and went closer to Tails. "I was on my way to visit everyone, and thank them. I'm leaving."

"You're-you're leaving?" Tails hadn't even had the chance to get to know him better.

"Yes. I have found what I am looking for."

"Well, that's too bad. You'll definitely be missed." Tails made a face that caught the stranger's attention.

"What _is_ the matter?" He inquired of the boy.

"What? No-it's nothing."

"It sure doesn't seem like nothing." The stranger smiled, he offered to help Tails. He made his way next to him and sat on the couch. "You can trust me, Tails." He said his name with mild emphasis.

Tails remembered how the stranger had saved his life, he felt his scar in his mind. Of course Tails trusted Éleos, he just wasn't very good at expressing himself. But he went for it anyway, "I- someone came to-visit me."

Éleos grew concerned and automatically empathetic.

Tails continued, "Before you came, to the Typhoon, you see- there was this girl."

Éleos read his mind, "And you grew fond of this girl."

"Exactly," Tails reassured, "but, she didn't-make it." He almost broke down again, "I-I saw- her. She was right here-with me." He placed his hands on his eyes. "But she's dead."

Éleos placed his arm around the fox, and gave what comfort he could. When Tails finished a short session filled with tears, the stranger spoke again, "What if, I told you, that you could bring her back?"

Tails mind was filled with confusion, he tried to stop the thoughts and question running through his mind. "What?"

"Do you remember, how I healed you?"

"Yeah?" Tails' voice had a twinge of hope.

"Perhaps I can do the same, with her. It will be harder, yes, but I think I can make the-"

"How?" Tails interrupted, "How can you do this?" He was in disbelief again.

"With an immense amount of power." The stranger looked back at the plant.

"What? You mean- that? It's just a plant."

"On the contrary, when I came I immediately felt its potential and great power." The stranger looked back at Tails.

"No. I can't, I couldn't give it to you. It's all I have left of- her." Tails did not have the strength to part with the plant.

"Tails, you have to pick one, and you cannot have both." The stranger added ominously. "I can make the arrangements, it is the least I can do for you and your friends. You got me here. However we would need to go to the point of end and origin. Perhaps if there was a machine that could replicate matter- that might help. I could use the plant as one source of power, but it might not be enough." The stranger knew about the machine.

Tails responded, "Well, I have been working on a machine to replicate fuel. But I'm not where it is, it-" Tails remembered their journey in space, "It actually might have been destroyed when the creatures of black attacked us."

Éleos was not concerned, "That is no problem at all, in fact I might be able to take you back."

Tails did not follow, "Back? What do you mean?"

Éleos gave Tails a funny look, "Well, back when the machine was around. Before the black creatures, " the stranger noticed his widening eyes, "when she was alive. Of course, there are certain rules when traveling through reality."

Even though Tails did not believe, he had not choice but to listen to the minted stranger. To save Cosmo. "You mean- go back in time?"

The stranger was not phased by the question, "Yes. It's quite simple really. But first, you'll need to pack."

Tails became dumbfounded, "Pack? Pack why?"

"For the trip."

Tails asked again, "What trip?"

"The trip to space, of course."

Outside, a little Cream overheard the conversation through the other garage door. She ran as fast as she could towards home. She also had some packing to do.


	22. Chapter 21: Enough Energy For Multipli

**Chapter 21**

**Enough Energy For Multiplicity**

There lay a lonely Tails plushie on Cream's bed. It realized it was alone. Its head moved left, and right. A little blue Chao entered the room.

"So I was thinking, let me cheer you up. I have the perfect place." Cheese looked around, he flew and looked to see is Cream was hiding in her closet. "Cream?" The Chao wondered if she had gone back to Tails' house. He looked around the house, outside, but could not find her. He even went to Tails house but no one answered. This worried the Chao greatly. Yes the rabbit had been forgetting him, but she was now gone for a few hours. Just the thought of Cream being hurt, or lost, agonized Cheese.

He flew as fast as his wings would take him-back home. When he reached Vanilla it was unfortunate that she could not understand what he was telling her. To Vanilla the Chao only waved his little hands around and seemed upset about something, yelling, "Chao, chao, chao!" The frantic "chao's" did rise suspicion. When Vanilla called for her daughter and she gave no response, this worried the mother. Opportunely, Vector had been with her that midday-to help calm her down.

"Vector, have you seen Cream?" Vanilla asked.

"She came back from Tails' house. Is she not in her room?" The croc was sitting in the living room, with a TransAudio device, listening in on an old news story.

"No. I just checked." The rabbit sounded desperate. She sat next to the croc, tension rising. With one second, faster than the speed of sound, Vanilla had come up with twenty different possibilities of her daughter, either being kidnapped, or worse, being somehow killed.

This was not something the croc was used to seeing. But he tried his best to calm her down. It seemed very unlikely that something in that short time would happen to Cream. But she was her mother. She explained to the croc that Cream always, no matter the occasion, would tell her if she was going someplace. Even if it was to go right outside. So the irrational thoughts of the rabbit mother were slightly justified.

Vector held Vanilla, "She's probably just out with Tails again, lemme' go n' check."

"No!" She blurted, "I mean, stay with me. She'll come back."

The loud rumble of thunder outside cloaked another rumble. The Typhoon, for the second time, took off with a determined Tails, and a hitchhiker Cream.

"Are you sure about this?" The minted stranger asked Tails, who was sitting on his old captain's chair.

"I'm certain."

* * *

"Is she dead?" Rouge panicked when she saw the girl being taken into Knuckles room. "Hey, don't I know her?" The bat pointed at the unconscious girl.

"That's Helen!" Knuckles pointed out.

"Who's Helen?" Éleos asked.

"Her!" Knuckles pointed out for the second time.

"Wait, what's she doing here?" Rouge asked.

"I don't know! Why are you asking me?" Knuckles shouted.

"She's human. Like Chris." Éleos looked the girl over. "You know, the light did come from the emerald. Maybe that's what made it happen." The astute observation made Knuckles intrigued. "Maybe we should investigate." Éleos said nervously. Knuckles listened to him and they ran outside, leaving Rouge to tend to the girl.

"Hey! Don't leave me here with her! What do I do if she wakes up?" The bat asked too late. She looked around, as she heard a sound coming from the basement.

When the two reached the emerald, they noticed some of the shards were floating. Knuckles studied them closely. "What is going on with you?"

"Do you think it has anything to do with Chris being missing?" Éleos asked.

"Yeah, maybe." Without speaking his mind, Knuckles thought, _how did he know that? _Knuckles started his chant, _The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power…_

With reading his mind, Éleos said, "Well, I think I've overstayed my welcome." At that the minted hedgehog stepped down the ruin and met with another hedgehog who looked a little like him. Quickly he asked him, "You have it. Good. Quickly, let us leave." With a flash the two minted strangers were gone.

When Knuckles finished the chant he asked, _Master Emerald, show me what the matter is._ The emerald gave him a whisper, _the Dark One._

"Oh Knuckie! She's awake!" Rouge shouted as the door closed behind her. Knuckles ran as fast as he could, when he reached the girl she seemed bewildered.

"Helen, you're awake!" Knuckles shouted.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Rouge in turn shouted. The girl had heard them both, but only rubbed her head in pain.

"Chris?" She looked around, not finding the boy. Her lab coat drooped longer than she was, almost making them look like hand-me-downs. She stood up on the bed, she jumped when she saw the familiar bat and echidna. "Knuckles? Rouge? I must be dreaming!" In disbelief she turned her body towards them, her legs dangled down the side of the bed. "I need to… find Chris." Still in shock she stood up from the bed, shocking the two as well. She supported her weight on the nearest wall.

When she realized what she was doing she gasped. She looked herself over, and her newfound strength in her legs. She mumbled over herself, "I-I-I can… walk?" She grabbed at her legs, pinching them, her arms, just in case she wasn't dreaming. She could feel them.

"Shen can walk?" Knuckles also asked.

"Well, we keep asking ourselves these questions that really we just can't find the answers to." Rouge admitted.

"I can walk!" The girl cried with joy. She then went over to the two and hugged them.

"She can walk!" Knuckles pointed out obviously.

"This is ridiculous, am I the only one making sense?" Rouge rubbed her head in impatience.

"We need to get you to the others! They'll be happy to see you!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"The most sensible thing you've said, all day." Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Hold on," Knuckles stopped, "Where's Éleos?"

Rouge answered, "I thought he went outside with you, then I saw him leave right before you came in, just now."

The comment caught Knuckles off guard. "What? He was just with me."

"No he wasn't, he was in here." Rouge corrected, and Helen wondered what they were talking about.

"Who are you talking about?" Helen asked, still admiring her legs. She remembered the first thing she saw, she questioned whether or not she had made it up. "Wait! Where's Chris?"

"Well, we don't know that either." Knuckles stopped arguing with Rouge. "He was here, but he's been… missing for a few days."

"Missing?!" Helen asked nervously.

"No need to worry, he's probably with Sonic. I guarantee it." Knuckles reassured her.

"By the way sweetie," Rouge asked, "How did you get here?"

Helen sat back down, "Actually, I'm not sure. I was close to Chris' machine, but it wasn't even turned on." Helen finally noticed her smaller version of herself. "Why am I so small?!"

"That was Chris' problem too." Knuckles said.

"We'll find you some new clothes dear." Rouge thought that perhaps Cream or Vanilla would have something in her size.

"I need to find him. Our world… is in chaos. He told me he knew how to fix it." Helen thought back.

"Then let's go look for him now." Knuckles told her. "And I need to find Éleos. Something tells me he has something to do with this."


	23. Chapter 22: Who Are We Backwards?

**Chapter 22**

**Who Are We "Backwards"?**

"Sonic?"

"Amy." The hedgehog mumbled. He slowly opened his eyes to see Queen Sally and his mother. He noticed he was in his old bed, in his father and mother's house.

"How did you do it?" His mother asked.

"I-I just spoke to him. I feel a little out of place, I'll leave."

"Nonsense, your grace. You are more than welcome here. Please stay, you helped him get here." His mother responded.

"Where am I?" Sonic knew where he was, but he felt too disoriented for his taste. Making his speech a confused gargle. "Where's dad?"

"I sent Jules to help send supplies to the Simians. He should be back in a few weeks." Sally assured him. "As for you, a villager found you in the outskirts of the Great Forest. What happened?"

"I was… walking." Sonic answered

"Really? You looked pretty unconscious." Sally reminded him.

Sonic felt stressed, he could not run, let alone walk. And Merlin's warning was that he was running out of time. What would happen when the last grain of sand fell? He did not know, but he was closer to his friends and the minted stranger than he had been. That-at least gave him some strength.

"Olgie you have to rest, "His mother caught him trying to leave the bed. "Nurse Sally will take care of you."

"Really, I couldn't, I barely-"But before Sally could respond, mother Bernadette was halfway down the stairs.

Sonic was convinced he did feel better, but that would probably change after a few more minutes of walking. When he gathered most of his senses he asked the queen, "Queen- I mean, Sally, there's no time for me. I have to find Éleos."

"Who's Éleos?" She asked.

"He's another hedgehog we met in space. He knows how to help me." Sonic was not sure about what he was claiming to Sally, but it was his best shot.

"Is something wrong?" Sally said caringly.

"It's funny, but, I think I'm dying." It really wasn't funny, but the hedgehog would do anything for a laugh or smile- even with this weak attempt. "I never thought I'd go out like this. In fact, I never thought I'd go out, at all."

Sally spoke in a nervous, shrill, voice, "Well- I'll take you there myself, and if I have to, I'll carry you. Where is it we are headed?" Sally readied herself. "Fiona! Mina!" Quickly the queen's royal guard stood at the threshold of Sonic's room. Fiona was a young, red, fox. And Mina was an older-than-Fiona, yellow, mongoose, with purple hair. They both wore heavy red and blue mail. Each equipped with their preferable fighting weapons-A lance and a shortsword. Although, Fiona had to leave her lance outside since it was too long.

Both of them answered at the same time, "Yes Queen Sally!"

Sally was not ready to emasculate Sonic in front of her and two other women, so she would not ask them to carry him. "Help Sonic and I get to where he needs to be."

"At once!" And at once, both Fiona the fox, and Mina the mongoose, helped the blue hedgehog from side to side. When the trio and Sally made their way downstairs, Sally explained to Bernie that Sonic was feeling better and she reminded her she still needed to train the troops-all to get Sonic off the hook. Bernie did not believe that he was feeling better, but thought it a good opportunity for her son and Sally to get to know each other more, and perhaps get a date out of it. And that's how the oblivious momma-hog excused herself to go to work.

There were multiple times along the way when Sally asked, "Can you go on?" Or, "Are you sure you don't need to rest?" But the stubborn Sonic knew somewhat of what might have been at stake-and did no such thing but go on. His life perhaps was at stake, or someone else's. But to him, it was always about someone else's life. It never was about himself nor the riches the Acorns had to offer. The title of: Hero of Time, was enough for him. And this just occasion made his way of thinking become a little different.

When they finally reached their destination, Sonic, Sally, Fiona and Mina waited at the steps of Vanilla's residence, waiting for someone to answer the door. To their surprise, it was Knuckles who stood at the doorway.

"Sonic? What are you doing here? Is Chris with you?" The echidna asked as he let them in. There was a Rouge consoling a battered Vanilla who was sitting, next to, who was also helping, was another human Sonic did not expect, but was too injured to react the way he normally would.

"Helen." Sonic grunted as the royal guards set him on the couch. Knuckles closed the door behind them and Sally stood, not knowing a few animals and human. Sonic tried again, "How is this possible?" It was very slow of him, but it took Sonic a while to notice that Helen was actually standing. "How? How are you walking?"

"I don't know. Isn't it great!? Knuckles says it might have been the Master Emerald-that perhaps it has healing powers." The girl spoke, overjoyed. Vanilla had given her one of her own shirts and a vest, much like one Helen wore as a child-it was hard to wrap the teams' minds around her not being twelve-just as they left her- but being eighteen, and still looking like she hadn't aged. And also one of Cream's bigger skirts.

That reminded Sonic, "Speaking of healing, I need to speak with Éleos. Any of you seen him?"

"Yeah, he was just with me. I need to see him too." Knuckles added.

"Knux, Chris left. Before I went to Echidnopolis, I saw him leave in one of Eggman's machines. It took him back home. This happened way back." Sonic also remembered that.

"Left?! Without even saying goodbye?!" Knuckles looked over at Helen, "Sorry Helen, you just missed him."

"But that's not possible." Helen started, "If this was a long time ago, he should have been back. He never _came_ back." Now Helen worried much more for _her_ boy.

Sonic responded, "Don't worry, we'll just ask Eggman. And then we'll send you back too. Right Knux?"

Knuckles shook his head, "Bad timing. The Master Emerald is broken, I think it's best if we wait awhile."

"You'll always have a place here dearie." Vanilla mustered what she could before shedding more sentiment for Cream.

"Well-thank you, I hope I'm not a bother." Helen worried.

"Bother, shmother, when's the kid getting here?" Rouge blurted and received blank stares. "Sorry, thought I'd pitch in the conversation. No offense Helen. I was talking about the fox."

"None taken."

"Where is Tails? And Amy?" Sonic wondered, feeling lightheaded from all the conversation.

"And Charmy and Espio. Don't forget about them." Vector knew where they were, but felt like including the rest of the Chaotix members.

"…Right, them too." Sonic added.

"Well Charmy went back home and so did Espio. As a matter of fact Creamy told me Amy went back home too."

"Home?" Some animals said in unison. But it was probably Sonic who said it the loudest. And feeling quite out of place, Sally and her guards waited patiently.

"Don't look at me!" Vector thought about it for a moment. "Actually, look at me- Vanilla. I'll get to the bottom of this." The croc thought this was the perfect opportunity to show off his detective skills. "Now we all know that Cream and Tails have been spending time together."

"I didn't know that." Some said in unison rolling their eyes.

"Quiet! And now we hear's that Eggman sent Chris away and coincidentally another whiny brat shows up?" Vector studied hard.

"None taken."

"Well isn't it obvious?" Even the croc didn't quite believe it himself.

"No." Again, all at once.

"Eggman sends Chris to another dimension, and somehow Tails finds out about his evil schemes, so he goes after Eggman, and takes Cream with him." Vex explained and then pointed to Vanilla who really wasn't in the mood for another one of the croc's antics. "Where were you this morning?" The croc was out of ideas at that point.

"Vector you were with me the entire morning." Vanilla's head started to ache.

"Still haven't explained how the whiny brat got here." Knuckles pointed out.

"None taken." Helen was tired of her being the running joke.

"Oh. No offense Helen." Knuckles corrected himself, but the girl gave him a sarcastic stare.

More and more bickering encouraged more volume. There were shouts from protecting Helen of being an actual whiny brat to shouts of Vector even being a real detective.

"Quiet!" When they ultimately realized that Sally was the one who shouted that, they finally noticed that the queen was in the house, so they all shut up.

Sonic could breathe again, "Thank you. Has anyone even checked his house?"

"I did." Knuckles responded, "We thought he might be using the Tornado or something, but we haven't checked the Typhoon." Some looked around at each other.

"You don't think he would." Sonic asked.

"Well, he wasn't doing well, last we checked." Knuckles reaffirmed making Vanilla worry, but hopeful that perhaps Cream and Tails were on the Typhoon.

Sally held her head in annoyance, "Is this how your team functioned out in space?" She directed to Sonic

"Well, I think we are making up for lack of Amy." Sonic felt a strange emptiness without her jumping on him and kissing him and all in all stalking him. The stalking was cute he thought, he especially liked her angry. He caught himself thinking of her in the most untimely fashion and tried to get back to the matter at hand. "Guys!" He snapped, "Why doesn't one of you go check the Typhoon?"

"I'll go." Knuckles volunteered.

"I'll go too." Rouge also volunteered which made Sonic think twice about it.

"If you see Éleos, tell him Sonic needs him." Sonic rested his head again on the couch.

"Sure thing buddy." Both Knuckles and Rouge left to go to the Typhoon, leaving the rest to wonder what the matter was with Sonic.

"What's wrong Sonic?" Helen approached the hedgehog.

Sonic didn't hear clearly, "Who? Me? It's nothing." He lied.

Skies darkened, and it began to rain that day too. Knuckles and Rouge still had not made their way back. On a brighter note, Vanilla had managed to keep it together and with the help of Vector and Helen, she was thinking more positively.

"What little time I spent with Cream told me she was raised by a wonderful mother. She wouldn't just disappear without any reason." Helen reassured Vanilla.

"Thank you dearie." Vanilla endured what she could at the moment.

Sonic sat with Sally, taking care of him, even Fiona and Mina made themselves more comfortable, guarding the outside of the home.

"What else did Merlin tell you?" Sally asked.

"He said he saw something that was coming, something dark. I was going to tell you, I lied about taking care of the problem out there. Well technically I didn't, we did take care of it. We just found another problem." Sonic explained to Sally's many expressions. "I thought I could take care of it, when it came. I was wrong, I need help." It was hard for Sonic to admit help, but that softened the queen's heart.

"You'll always have my help." Sally told him. "As best as I can- hm. Of course." She tried sounding more professional. "What was the other problem?"

"I'm still not sure. Merlin says they existed long ago. Creatures of black. And some of them were just shadows." Sonic would normally sound more confident in his abilities, and ability to take care of a situation, but this was different. "Once we get me fixed, I'll handle it. With help. Now that I think about it. Knuckles said something about the emerald might have healing powers. I'll have to get Knuckles to get it to me. I don't think I can make the trip."

"You're right," Sally agreed, "You'll stay here and rest."

There was a crackle outside, and before the crowd dismissed it as regular thunder, they saw an extreme purple or blue light through the windows. When some of them looked out they beheld what was something of that color falling out of the sky, clear into Prower territory-close to where the Typhoon was supposed to be.

* * *

"What is that?" Knuckles asked Rouge as they headed back from the large hangar. He pointed at a blue, comet-like star, falling from the sky. It had landed in the forested area close to them.

"Let's go check it out."

The rain picked up, making it harder to see in the night. When they reached the blue comet there were traces of what seemed like blue fire all around them. They heard yells. They checked what was supposed to be the comet, only to find more fire, and nothing. They ran toward the yells. They saw more blue fire shooting and spouting in the clearance which was the beach, close to the village Drabdun. Then they saw them again, the creatures of shadow, only not accompanied by creatures of black. They shot out at what appeared to be another, dark animal. Both Knuckles and Rouge took care of the other creatures along the way to the dark animal. And they noticed the Sonic team had joined them from the other side.

The dark animal yelled out, "Begone, vile beast!" With that he shot out fire from his palms to the creature, hitting it and extinguishing it completely. Another creature latched on to his arm and pulled him down to the sand. He made an unsavory wail filled with pain.

"Help him!" Yelled Sonic, he managed to stay on his own two feet, with only the help of Sally- while her guards attacked.

Ultimately the shadows lessened in numbers, and some, seeing that their prey was injured, dissipated into the sand beneath them. The team went to the animal's rescue, finding out themselves that he wasn't animal. But a black, human male.

"I'm fine." The man grabbed at his arm and wound. The man wasn't fine so they offered to help him. They almost had to carry him too for loss of blood, all the way back to Vanilla's. When he was feeling better, Helen approached him, asking for his name.

"Rimas. My name is Rimas." He said, still out of breath. The man presented a weak, painful smile. Helen returned the smile, treating his wounds.


	24. Chapter 23: Hitchhikers Might Be Esca

**Chapter 23**

**Hitchhikers Might Be Escaped Rabbits**

Tails' towering trophy was able to take off but at a disadvantage. The aileron that Chris and Knuckles fixed had chipped away at takeoff. As a result the Typhoon was not able to steer straight through gravity, but out in space-it did not matter. It was weird to be in his old chair, commanding and navigating his ship. He never thought he would have to go back to space. And from what Éleos had told him, he would be taking the ship to where he lost her.

"Do you know where that is?" The minted stranger was beside him, also staring through the massive window.

"0, 0, 0. Exactly where we lost her. It's not far from here." Tails clutched at his pot and the growing plant.

Tails was exuberant, but one would not be able to notice with the amount of disdain he would show in appearance and feeling. He was actually doing this, and he could feel stronger for it. It wasn't a question of whether or not it could be done anymore, but he had to just go with it, and trust that what Éleos told him would work. He had saved him after all. It was not strange to think that he had other powers as well. Tails shifted in his seat. He thought about where on Mobius he put his fuel replicator. He remembered many a times he would be working on it out in space. But for the life of him he could not remember where he last put it. He had his blueprints in his room, but he was not able to salvage any after his room was destroyed by the creatures of black. Perhaps there was one in the ship's lab.

"I'll be back." Tails told the stranger.

* * *

Cream had hidden herself in storage, next to the fuselage. She tried to be as sneaky as she could when she left and was too bored to stay in the same place. On the way to her room she passed Tails' laboratory. She decided to stay and have glance at his machinery. _I wonder what this does_, she thought when touching another device that resembled a weapon. It had many wires at the base, and the metal was shiny. Shinier that she had ever seen, it reminded her of what the Metarex were made of. While picking the device up, a blue sheet of paper fell to the ground. When she picked it up to set it back down on the table, she thought, _Hey, I've seen this before._ It was small and in pieces, reconstructing it would make it look like a gun, without the classic barrel.

"Cream?!" Tails yelled at her making her jump, shocked and hoping she hadn't just been caught. "What are you doing here?! Well?"

When she did not answer him, it was obvious he had scared her. He walked over to her, but she tried to hide behind her hands, ashamed.

"Cream?"

"I'm sorry!" She yelled while trying to explain, "I had to come when I heard you were leaving."

Tails looked puzzled, but more worried.

"I came back, and I overheard you and Éleos. I couldn't let you leave, without me. I just couldn't." Cream seemed to be at her breaking point, but Tails tried to understand. He embraced her, trying to be a better friend, in his mind.

"Well there's nothing we can do now. We're too far to turn back." Tails did not want to remember an unpleasantness so he pushed the thought away. "Did you tell Vanilla?"

Cream shook her head, feeling guilty.

"And we're too far to hail them." Tails made a decision that should have taken more thought. "I'll watch out for you, "He noticed Cream didn't like that comment, "for Vanilla's sake." He added, and that was better-for Cream.

"I promise to be an asset for you." Cream vowed.

Tails noticed the blueprint she was holding, "Hey! I've been looking for this. You're doing pretty great so far!" He encouraged her.

As they walked back to the bridge, Cream thought of her confessing to Tails, over and over again. It didn't seem like Tails was too occupied about it, in fact it felt like he didn't even remember. She made a vow however, she would try her hardest not to put her feelings first.

"Looks like we have a stowaway." Éleos greeted Cream, "Hitchhikers might be escaped rabbits." He joked, "What are you doing here malady?"

"I'm here to help." Cream looked for reassurance from Tails, which he gave, and he nodded in agreement.

"She's an asset now." Tails told him, winking at Cream.

"Good. We'll need the help." The minted stranger stared back into the void.

* * *

"I was running. We all were." The large, new human told the story. He was surrounded by strangers, but the least he could do was explain his troubling them. "But the shadows caught up to me, as you all saw."

"What exactly, were you running from?" Sonic sat next to the new stranger. He looked at Sonic with kind eyes.

"A demon. A few actually."

"Where _did_ you come from?" That was the queen, who was sitting next to Sonic on the same couch.

"We are an elite sect known as the Pantheon. It would be difficult to describe." The man was tall and muscular. He had on tattered robes. He was also bald.

"Sect… Éleos!" Knuckles put the two together. The name made the man stare at Knuckles at attention.

"Do you know of Éleos? Where is he?" The man asked.

"Well, that's our problem too. We can't find him." Knuckles opted out of the conversation for a while, he went over to the kitchen to have a drink.

"Then how do you know him?" That was Sally again.

"He is one of us. Although, we got separated, I haven't heard from him, or the others." The man commented sadly. For a big tough guy he sure showed a lot of emotion. "As a matter of fact, he looks a lot like you." He pointed at Sonic.

"Yup! That's the one!" Knuckles shouted from the kitchen.

"But how do we know you are who you say you are?" Sally asked, Sonic thought it unnecessary, she thought Sonic too trusting, and the question necessary.

The dark man pulled his robe up enough to see his wrist. "The mark of the Augury." He pointed at markings on his wrist, they were all sorts of weird triangles into one. "Your protector should have one too, I'm not sure I remember what his name used to be, but he was Soferia to us." There were only blank stares at the name, but when Knuckles made his way back he noticed the mark.

"Hey! I know those, they're in my book." Knuckles was munching on something. "Gods know what they mean though.

"What book?" Sonic asked.

"I dunno, the uh, echidna bible."

"Why don't you bring it? And the Master Emerald like I asked you an hour ago?" Sonic asked impatiently.

"Fine mom! Hey mom, let's go." He pointed at Rouge, she stuck her tongue out at him, and they left.

"You mean to tell me, he hasn't appeared to you yet? He was charged with leading the people of your world." Rimas was confused. But it confused him even more, that these animals had not even heard of the Augury. He winced when touching his bandaged arm. He was grateful to Helen for that. "Thank you for the bandages, Helen."

"Oh it's nothing. I majored in medicine, no big deal." Helen was the only one proud of that, primarily because the animals there weren't familiar with college. Surprisingly enough though she had forgotten about her legs and wasn't even using them-she was sitting across from Sonic.

"Were those the creatures you encountered in space?" Sally asked Sonic.

"Yeah, but there were others, like actual creatures with bodies, black creatures." That peaked Rimas' interest.

"Then we must prepare. Come morning we will make whatever preparations we need. And the Acorns will be ready." Sally stood up ready to leave.

Vanilla caught her before she left, "I would ask you to stay my queen, but I'm afraid we're filled for the night." Vanilla wanted to be more polite to the queen, more polite than she had been when they last met.

"It's fine. Sonic, "Sally motioned for the hedgehog, "I guess, I'll see you tomorrow- to discuss, plans." Sally excused herself, too late to hear Vector go "Ooo". She and her guards left into the cold rain.

"And then there were five." Vector commented.

"Chao, chao!"

"Sorry Cheese, six."

"These black creatures, "Rimas started again, "did they happen to have smears of red on them?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Sonic asked, interested at what Rimas might now.

"I should have expected as much with the creatures of shadow. They are slaves of an agent of evil. We know him as The Devourer. If he's found us, he will not stop, he will send all of his forces at once. Let us pray he does not know of your little, blue, planet." Rimas explained. "I will do what I can to return what kindness you've offered me."

"Well, I think it's about time we all hit the pillow." Sonic added. "And we'll wait for Tails to bring the Typhoon back Vanilla."

Vanilla smiled weakly, but she knew her daughter would be safe with Tails. Even though it wasn't positive to them that she was with him. But before they went their own ways Knuckles barged in with Rouge, out of breath.

"It's gone! I'll teach that bas-"

"Knuckles! Language." Luckily Sonic interrupted in time. "What's missing? The emerald?"

"No the book! Éleos took it, I know he did!"

Rouge handed Sonic the shards of the Master Emerald, they were collected in a bag. "Thank you Rouge."

"Calm down big guy, we don't know that for sure." Rouge tried to stay positive for Knuckles. In the end Helen stayed at Vanilla's, and Rimas helped and stayed with Sonic at his place. Sonic went to bed with the emerald shards next to him. He did not feel any different, perhaps he was doing something wrong. He would figure it all out in the morning though.


	25. Chapter 24: She Knew Me

**Chapter 24**

**She Knew **_**Me**_

"Now remember, if you can't find your machine, there is always plan two." The minted stranger pointed at the pot. Tails was more than reluctant to give it up. But he kept telling himself it was all for Cosmo. "I will send you back, allow me to prepare." The stranger began to meditate in the middle of the control room.

"Meanwhile I can look for it here. I have the blueprints." Cream added, she quickly left the cabin with the blue paper.

Tails thought to himself for a moment while Éleos readied himself. _Can I really do this? What if I see her?_ Tails decided at that moment, if he did see her he would not speak to her, it would be too hard for him. But he didn't really know when he was going to be sent back.

"I am prepared," The stranger took a deep breath, as did Tails, "ready yourself. And remember, don't talk to anyone." The stranger summoned a purple or blue hole from concentrated matter. It yowled and whispered and gave off dark-colored energy. It was big enough for Tails to fit in. He looked back at Éleos, having doubts about the whole thing. "Before I forget, to port you back, just say the following phrase: "The Undying has awakened". I will hear it."

He nodded, "Take care of it for me, please." Tails put the pot down on his chair, and entered the hole.

Éleos nodded, "Run fast."

* * *

Cream found that the path she took led her back to the laboratory. She studied the paper as open minded as she could.

She read: "p(v), probability that Perfect Autarky depends on v, external entities. p(v)=P(E=v), then S=p(0). Et, time, Perfect Autarky, from 0 up to t, then Perfect Autarky is steady state fraction of t, in which S= lim/t-infinity times et/T."

None of Tails' equations made any sense but she kept reading, "Moboranium isotopes 238 and 235, decay product-234. Combined with radioisotopic gel? Master Emerald?"

She did recognize 'Master Emerald'. But she quickly gave up trying to piece it all together. She tried to remember where on Mobius she saw this machine. Was it on the ship? It must have been. Was if before or after the battle with the Metarex? She was not sure of that. Cream noticed that the machine had a little button or switch on the side where all the wires were put. Two lines went from it farther out into the paper, pointed to two words: Blue, and Red.

Her eyes widened, she had once held the machine and the light it gave off was red. _I sat on it in the cabin, then I left it in my room! If I can do this for Tails, maybe he'll like me more._

The little girl came to her room excited, and she found the machine right where she put it. It resembled a gun without the classic barrel, and many wires shot out of the top. A red light shone on the side. She knew she wasn't going to make sense of those equations, but maybe it had something to do with the Master Emerald. She could take the machine to it, and see what happens. Only there was a problem, there was no emerald on the typhoon. Perhaps she couldn't do it without Tails' help after all. There was a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, she thought of Cosmo. Had she mourned enough for her? She walked a few rooms down, the light was unlit, but she entered Cosmo's room nonetheless. She sat on the bed that was made. Probably last made by Cosmo herself. The room even smelled of Cosmo- a flowery scent. She still had her belongings there, her clothes, shoes, a book. She looked more closely, and grabbed the book, the title read: Mobius: A Brief History. It was small but it had been used. She opened to a particular chapter: Day of Fury.

"Mogul was said to have escaped even before the bombing of the Xorda. On the other hand, the Knights of Aurora were also said to have killed him before making his escape. They claimed they kept his staff but there is no physical proof of this. We do know of the staff's existence, for the people of Albion recorded such an event of rise to power. Many also believe that Mogul was reincarnated by the remaining Order of Ixis. But the Knights write to say they did not leave any remaining members, alive.

"And so concludes the reign of Mogul, and the start of the bombings of the Xorda. They had bombed our blue planet before, and they came back to finish what they started."

Someone had written in the side column of the chapter, and circled "blue planet".

"I am very grateful to my friends, finding them would have been impossible. But I love them, I know I say this a lot, but I mean it. And I only wish they knew the truth about me, for keeping it a secret they deserve a better friend." It was obvious this was Cosmo's writing, it was a journal of sorts. Cream was lucky to find this, and it made her choke up with tears. The truth about her was made evident to them during their journey, she turned out to be a spy for Dark Oak himself.

"I sometimes wonder about the person who directed me there, to the planet they call Mobius. I would have never found Sonic. He told me that he was the fastest hedgehog in existence, and that he had great powers. I have been lucky to see that, but above all his friendship, and his ability to repel sadness in any given situation. If only I had that ability.

"He called himself Éleos, and wherever he is, I hope he knows how grateful I am for him."

Cream's eyes widened. _Éleos_ _knew Cosmo._ So she had more to thank about Éleos than she thought.

Saddened that she could not do more about the machine, she took it back to Tails only to find Éleos alone in the cabin. She also set the book down on the captain's chair.

"Where's Tails?" She remembered them talking about sending him back. But sending him back where?

"He's looking for the machine as well." Éleos saw the device she was holding. "What's that?"

"I think it's the machine he wants, I dunno'. I think he needs the Master Emerald though, which is a shame." Cream sat on Tails' chair, disappointed in her attempt.

"Perhaps not a shame. You want to help him, yes?" Éleos persuaded her.

"More than anything." She said resolutely.

"Then I will take you to a time when there was and emerald. To ask for your return, say the following phrase: "The Undying has awakened". I will hear it and port you back."

* * *

Tails body was flung from the pocket of space into his captain's chair. The sudden gust and instantaneous travel made him feel like someone had just punched the air out of him. He lay on his chair for a moment, studying his surroundings. There was no light which probably meant they were all sleeping. He thought himself stupid for forgetting to ask when he was sent back to. If he were to send him when Cosmo was alive it would have been unnecessary. He could have just retrieved the machine right before the creatures attacked. But he still wasn't sure when he was taken back. Then again if he was sent back to when she was alive, it would give him plenty of time to look for the machine. And having the temptation of speaking with her again was too great, and he liked the idea of it.

His goal was to get to his room, knowing him back then he would probably be out working on the Typhoon, but he was unsure. He sped down the hallway that led to his room. When it slid open he peaked into it. It was dark but he went in anyway, locking the door just in case. Tails tiptoed to his bed, making sure he wasn't on it. To his relief he wasn't, or, a version of him wasn't. Had Éleos really sent him to the past? It was still unbelievable. He rummaged for his things, throwing all sorts of metal chunks and loose papers everywhere. He checked his closet, his drawers, and his bathroom. But he could not find the machine.

He made his way outside, and made sure the door was unlocked from the outside. When he turned, too quickly, he bumped his nose on someone's cheek, making both of them fall to the ground. "Ooof." They both exclaimed. Tails clutched at his snout in pain. Seeing the one person he was not supposed to see.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Tails, I didn't mean to. Goodness, I'm so clumsy." It was Cosmo, just as he remembered, just as she was when she came to him.

"I-I, uh, well, it's uh." Tails found himself reacting the way he used to around her. But this time, it was a mix of heartfelt pitter patter and the thought of him making a crack in the timestream. He tried again while helping her up, "It's uh, h-hey, Cosmo. You, uh, I, missed- you." It was too late for him to do anything so he let himself go and expressed what love he could express by wrapping his arms around her.

This was unexpected for the plant girl, and immediately she began to blush. "I, eh, T-Tails?"

"Yeah, C-Cosmo?"

"Didn't I just see you?" Cosmo was both ecstatic and addled.

When he let go of her he paused, "Yes. Yes you did. I just, couldn't help myself." Tails saw that she was blushing, which in turn made him blush even more. "I mean! I couldn't wait! I mean! I-" _Say it you goof, _he thought before blurting, "Come with me!" He took her arm, passing his room, passing his past self, passing his laboratory, they went in storage, climbing and stepping over luggage and a bunch of boxes Chris' parents had brought him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Cosmo demanded with impeccancy.

Tails thought for an excuse, anything to get him off the hook, but circumventing his feelings did not help him. He thought about how strange it might have been for her to have been suddenly taken, and worst of all into storage. The more he thought and less he answered, the more Cosmo grew worried for him. But at least she was paying attention to him.

"Tails, is everything alright? Do you need nurse Amy to look you over?"

"No! I mean, I'm fine. I just have, to, had to see you." Tails almost thought this a dream, he could not believe she was here with him, now. He could not let her go, he knew he had to, and Gods only knew how much little time he had. He sat on one of Chris' boxes which made him sink, he paid no mind, but it made her giggle.

She sunk into a box next to him and asked, "What is it?"

The boy said the first thing that came to mind, "Do you remember, when Shadow was after you, and we climbed the vents to get to the hangar bay?" Tails realized that when he was might have been before that occasion.

"Yes. Why?" She answered.

"It was then, well, when I realized something. Something about you." Tails told her, he saw she was more attentive now than ever. "I realized that, that I love you. And that, I will always love you, no matter what happens." He could finally exhale.

The comment did catch Cosmo off guard, and she was happy, but she was also elusive. "I-I don't know what to say Tails."

For a moment the fox did not like that answer, but he recalled what might have been her answer when she first came to him when she died. "You don't have to say anything." He reached for her and played with her cheek. She never did respond directly to his question, but when she left he felt satisfied, he stayed in storage while she walked down the white hallways- with a joyful skip.

When Cosmo turned a corner she noticed her rabbit friend was still up as well. She skipped to her and exclaimed, "Isn't he wonderful Cream?" The rabbit appeared frightened, and did not move. Cosmo continued, "I never in a million years would have guessed that he,- he loves me."

With a funny look Cream answered, "Uh, uhm. Who?"

"Tails! He just told me so."

That was a third pierce for the rabbit. But she remained calm. "Yeah. He's pretty great C-Cosmo. I h-have to go."

"Oh. Well let me go with you, I don't think I'll be going to sleep any time soon." There were dimples from end to end on Cosmo's face.

Cream lead them both to the reactor room where Tails was, fixing or playing with it-knowing him.

"Hey Cosmo, back so soon? And hi Cream." Tails asked.

_Always second place,_ Cream thought angrily. Fortunately Tails had not noticed she had his machine, but she placed it behind her just in case. "Keep him busy." She whispered to Cosmo. And the plant girl didn't even have to think twice for that. Cream climbed all the way up to the emerald, it was in one piece. She noticed Tails was too busy to notice her.

"C'mon, work." Cream whispered, she put the machine on the emerald but it did nothing. The light did not change. "What do I do?" She asked to no one in particular. "Work!" She slammed her fist on the emerald, she noticed she was a little loud, but when she looked over, Tails was still busy. Just then she noticed her hand had started to glow, she removed it and a sliver of the emerald fell on the metal floor. When she picked it up she saw something in the sliver. It was speaking to her.

"Heed my warnings. Seek me out, Cream. Look out for her, she will save us." All appeared and were heard into one. But there was no time, Cream put the sliver into where the wires were and the sliver slid inside on its own. And then the light turned blue.

"Uh, uh… awakened, uh, "The Undying has awakened"!" And as quickly as she spoke the words, she was pulled from the past.

* * *

Unlimited tons of metal and weapons and all manner of machinery had submerged close to village Drabdun. The Egg-Maelstrom presented its shiny self to the people of the village, and all who dared go against the good doctor. It was a battleship twice the size of the Typhoon, and held about one-hundred-thousand more tons of weapons (not including the robots) than Tails' ship. And with its reds and blacks (mostly reds) it was also a battleship designed for faster-than-light space travel, if need be.

"Greetings!" A loud speaker could be heard all the way to Thumbnut, and Doctor Eggman gave the speech, "Allow me to introduce: The Egg-Maelstrom! Complete with, not two, not four, but four-hundred super-mega-rocket engines! Tremble and behold: your doom! Now, I would like everyone to make a single file line, you are all now subjects of the Eggman Empire."

"And allow me to introduce: The Decoeinator!" The long, yellow robot cut in. Eggman had given his three robots control of different parts of the ship, as he had in the past. An eighth of a league from the left to the right, there was The Decoeinator, which was just another command center.

"NO! I will not allow you to do this again!" Eggman yelled through the speaker.

"And allow me to introduce: The Wonderful-Incredible-Majestic-Prodigious-Intimidating-Stunning-Horrifying -"This went on for a while, "-Horrible-Bocoe!" The name lost steam a bit at the end, but the short, gray robot announced it-he was on the far left command center. "I call it the Bocoe-W.I.M.P.I.S.H. -H. for short. Wait! That doesn't sound right!"

"No take backs Bocoe!" Yelled Decoe while laughing at his mistake.

Bokkun on the other hand was reluctant to say his name, he was upset that he did not come up with an "amazing" name like his two robot counterparts. But he whispered into the mic anyway, "Mine, is the uh, Bokkun Is Cool." Bokkun was right below Eggman.

"What we didn't hear that Bokkun!" Yelled Bocoe.

"Yeah, what was it Bokkun?" Yelled Decoe.

"Bokkun Is Cool! Got it tin heads?!"

While Decoe and Bocoe proceeded to make fun of Bokkun for his name, and even when the little robot started to wail in tears, Doctor Eggman was not amused, his patience had ended. But that always happened. So other thoughts preoccupied his mind.

"Will you two bucket of bolts simmer down?! And Bokkun. Where did I go wrong there?" Eggman admitted.

"You're telling us Doctor!"

"Hey!"

"Anyway, what I was getting at." Eggman cleared his throat. "Oh Sonic! I have a proposition for you: come peaceably and I won't destroy Drabdun. And you're girlfriend isn't here to protect you this time."

"Aren't we lucky?" Noted Decoe.

"Yeah, Eggman had us get rid of each hammer she threw at us."

"And without proper equipment." Bocoe added.

"Yeah Doctor! Safety first!" Decoe yelled.

"Quiet!" Eggman shot back. "Did you hear me you hyperactive hedgehog?! I'll stop yelling when you start coming!"

Sonic was so upset at being woken up he launched himself out of bed. He was not fortunate enough to catch himself fall and landed on his face. "Ugh, great." The emerald pieces he slept with fell on him. "I don't have time for this."

Sonic found Rimas outside of his house, overlooking the enormous ship. "I thought humans did not exist in your reality. So far I know of two, not including me."

"Yeah? Well, this one's kind of a crazy cat." Sonic responded, he held the emerald shards in a bag. "If we ignore him, he might go away."

Rimas turned his attention to the hedgehog, "I wanted to thank you, for letting me hide on your planet."

"What can I say? We have a habit of picking up strangers." Sonic saw that Sally had made her way to his house.

She spoke, "What is it he wants this time?"

"Who knows? Me? The planet? To lose some weight?" Sonic extended his hand to the queen.

"I can begin the assault now." Rimas commented.

"Leave him be, he's harmless. He'll tire himself out, or come looking for me, or both." Sonic answered.

"If you have a moment Sonic." Spoke Sally.

"Of course my Queen." Sonic teased.


	26. Chapter 25: Why Things Happen As They

**Chapter 25**

**Why Things Happen As They Already Happened**

**Section VI**

Anub'Rakish and Xan'thil stayed behind at the steps of the temple. Amel first took Cosmo to see her mother, her name had also been changed. Afthonria missed her daughter very much, she longed to see her. In her eyes she would have seen the success of Cosmo's mission and birth, but her eyes told her otherwise. Cosmo had no body, she had no way to hold her mother close.

"My child, I have missed you. Your sisters would have loved to be here to see you as well." Afthonria told her daughter.

"Oh mother, I missed you too! When can I see them mother?" Cosmo still did feel great joy. But they joy subsided.

"Majordomo Amel," Afthonria started, "what can we do about my daughter's… condition?"

"For this, I need to confide with the High Father himself. Do not worry little one. Tharria will live within the bounds of this Beacon. For that I am certain. But I need to take her alone Afthonria." Amel explained.

"I understand." Cosmo's mother directed to the body-less plant girl, "Be not afraid Cosmo, I will be waiting here when you get back."

"Thank you mother." Cosmo would have done anything to hold her mother, to feel her mother again.

They entered the temple and found the High Father and Mother in the chamber of prayers. One quick glance from the High Father was all he needed.

The Mother spoke, "Perhaps we were wrong." She then spoke to Cosmo, "You are indeed Chosen. Her lack of being is proof enough."

"What this proves, is that we are not fit, Eonar." The High Father's stroked his long beard which extended all the way to his feet. "But you are right, our time is ended. And that is fact," The High Father came close to Cosmo, "you are that fact. Excuse us Eonar. You're coming too Amel." The High Father motioned for the man to walk with them in the endless blue and white hallways.

The High Father spoke first to Amel, "Noma is coming, if you didn't guess that already."

"The Precursor?" Amel wondered what that might mean for the Beacon.

"Yes, his return is soon. Much like our friend here." The High Father was able to touch Cosmo's shoulder without any problem. "Amel, you have served for many cycles, for that the Pantheon is grateful."

"Of course High Father, and I will keep serving." Amel respectfully, and slightly bowed.

"I am gladdened that we are speaking at one level. You are to keep serving, and you are to train this one." The High Father smiled warmly at Cosmo.

"Yes High Father, but with only one question: what am I training her for?" Amel asked.

"I think you know, young one. Amel, if you please, gather the guardians and their artifacts, bring them to the chamber of prayers." The High Father excused Amel for him and he quickly sped to where he was told.

The High Father spoke directly, with great intensity, "I know you don't remember your name, for that I will call you Cosmo."

"T-thank you sir." Cosmo seemed sheepish.

"Your mother spoke very highly of you on your behalf during your father's trial. You were recommended, and that is how you are here, now, Cosmo." The High Father explained.

"My- father?" Cosmo had questioned the notion before, but it never was relevant.

"You will have your opportunity to see him, but that will have to wait after your return." The High Father explained.

"My return? Where am I going?" Cosmo was confused.

The High Father put both of his hands on the girl's shoulders. "It is time that me, Eonar, and my brothers go back to where we came from, and answer for our crimes. But now, is the time for change, now is the time for our future, you-Cosmo, you are our future."

"I don't understand."

"In time." The High Father exhaled deeply, "My son Aggramar will stay in my place. But you will fill the role Eonar is leaving, as Lifebinder. And Amel, well, he has a kind heart, but you probably know that by now. He will be your mentor. You and he have more in common than you know."

"I-will do my best." Cosmo was still confused.

"I know you will."

When the appropriate amount of time passed, Amel had gathered all the guardians and were awaiting instruction from the High Father.

"Guardians," The High Father started, "You know of the Augury. You know the evil that is beset on tainting it. You are to make sure that the sacred artifacts do not fall into their hands." He walked over to four large beings of elemental nature. "Five sacred masks." He then walked to a smaller, round being. "The sword of galaxies, forged by Khaz'Goroth himself." He went on to Mercy who was holding another sword. "The sword of time. Mercy, you were entrusted with keeping safe this sword, and for that you will be commended. But the sword must go to another now."

"What?" Mercy raised his voice, "But I am the keeper, the guardian. You gave this to me."

"And I am taking it now. Remember your duties, young one." The High Father rebuked the animal. And he reluctantly gave up the sword. "You are dismissed Mercy."

Mercy left angrily.

"Amel," The High Father handed the sword to him, "Give this to Soferia. He's leaving there after Noma's meeting. As are all of you."

"At once High Father." Amel and a great number of guardians were dismissed.

"Cosmo, you and your mother will join us when Noma arrives." The High Father also dismissed the green girl.

**Present Cycle**

"The Augury gives us Chosen. It is up to you to protect and guide the Chosen." Noma the Precursor gave a piece of the Augury to Soferia, Filanthropia, and one to Imperious. They each also received a mark. "Do not fail, the balance of reality depends on you three. But perhaps not you three alone." Noma pointed at Cosmo. "Some say she is Chosen. Mayhap. Mayhap not. That does not matter now. What does matter is that a part of the Augury is being fulfilled in front of us. She is of utmost importance. Soferia, Mercy, see to it that she is not harmed." He looked at the High Father, "It is time Aman'Thul."

The High Father motioned for Amel to help him with Cosmo. The each lay a hand on her chest, back and head. It was also time for Soferia, Filanthropia and Imperious to leave and send the Augury, so they left. But before Amel and the High Father could begin the return, the entirety of the Beacon of reality shook. And it shook itself, and parts of it crumbled under the tremor. The violent shake sent everyone in a dizzy whirl.

"What was that?" Amel asked.

"There is no more time, we must finish the ceremony." Aman'Thul the High Father spoke.

In unison they both chanted, and Cosmo's body began to shine again with dark energy. At the same time the walls of the temple were breached and were caved into. Aman'Thul's other son had returned with an unfamiliar, fiery look. He began to topple and destroy everything within reach, he ran to the courts where the ceremony was almost complete.

Amid the coming violence and confusion of outside and within the court walls, Mercy stood up, with a single intent. He extended his arm, ready to give off dark energy of his own, and pointed at Noma.

* * *

Tails could not for the life of him relive Cosmo's death. He spent those last weeks in storage. He had found an old cloak, probably given to Chris by his parents. When he reemerged he decided if he could not find his machine he would have to get something with the same power. To do that he would need to find some sort of a power supply. He did keep one handy in the kitchen which was probably not used often. So he could get away with sneaking in rapidly. But to do that- he would need to create a diversion.

The yellow fox went to the one animal he knew would spread a rumor like fire. The fox cleared his throat behind Charmy who was helping Vector and Espio move some tables. Unfortunately his voice sounded like it was cracking, but it made Charmy turn around all the same to see the cloaked fox.

"Charmy, hm!" Tails forgot he hadn't spoken to anyone in weeks.

"Oh hey Tails. Oh wait, I'm supposed to be mad at you." Charmy folded his arms feeling contempt towards Tails.

Tails remembered the talent show that Amy planned, it would be a perfect cover for him. "You're… funny, right?"

"Huh? What'dya' mean wise guy?" Charmy asked, this got the attention of Vector.

"Hm! You should uh, have a talent show… because you're a comedian… right? Gotta' go!" Tails quickly left, he hoped he wouldn't see himself around the corner.

"I oughta show him a peace o' dis! He hits Cream, and now he mocks me?" The Bee yelled, and burst with rage.

_Good, now I'll just wait till they go, _Tails thought. When he waited he snuck back into the kitchen, he did not notice a little rabbit was there as well. On the front of the counter he opened a secret compartment by typing '26766'. "I know I left a power supply here, only I know the code." Tails noticed there was nothing there. "What hell!" There came a gasp from beyond the counter. He inadvertently bumped his head on the counter. When he looked up it was Cream. _Oh no! I messed up, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead._ He thought. _Wait, maybe I can pull this off._

"Oh! That's right!" He started, "Um, sorry for being such a jerk, um, "he paused, he remembered what he had done to her. He noticed her black eye. "I really have to go Cream." The fox boy left in a hurry and did not wait for Cream to respond. _Gods that was too close, he thought._

Tails went back to storage, defeated. He had no more ideas. Although, even if he did not want to believe it, he had one more option: give up the seed. Could he really bare to lose and gamble on what he had left of Cosmo? He would have to, for her.

""The Undying has awakened"."

* * *

"Where _did_ you go? And why does Tails machine look different." Cream asked the minted stranger.

He stood with the device in hand, there were some slight differences to it. Éleos answered, "Someone I trust has made the necessary modifications. As for "where", you would not understand it, even if I told you."

_Ouch, _cream thought. But she let it go anyway. She walked over to the plant which was still on Tails' chair. The seed was now the size of Cream's head. Twenty or so roots sprung out and around the seed as to shield it. It now glowed a different white and back to green. The different white might have been a peach, a pink, or a yellow. It was hard to tell. "Isn't it beautiful? I wonder where he got it." Cream asked to no one in particular.

"More than you know." Éleos did not look her way, he readied his hand to pull Tails.

"What?" Cream heard his comment.

"Nothing dear Cream." Éleos had seemed more ominous of late. That bothered Cream.

The minted stranger pulled Tails from the time he sent him. The fox gasped for breath and he was thrown to the ground with a thump. "We've run out of time Tails." Éleos mentioned.

"I know I'm sorry I couldn't find it. Even though it kills me, I'll… I'll give you the plant." Tails reconstituted himself and noticed his device in the hands of the minted stranger. "Hey, is that… is that the machine?"

"Isn't it great? I found it… for you." Cream helped Tails up.

"Well that is great. Good job Cream." Tails ruffled around the rabbit's ears.

Only Éleos did not seem amused. His stern look made Tails uneasy. The minted stranger interrupted the moment, "Actually, it looks like I will be needing it after all. Quickly now! The time we have is short, I can only hold her for a few moments."

"What?! You… have her? Already? You, but you said, you said you didn't need the seed." Tails was both in disbelief and disarray. The fox did not have the luxury to think and weigh his options. He slowly grabbed the pot, remembering all the good times he had with Cosmo. He wondered if he would see her now, or if it was all a lie.

"What are you two talking about? Have who?" Cream was also in disarray.

"Tails it's now or never buddy. Remember what I told you! You can only choose one, only one." Éleos reminded him. That was not something Tails needed to hear, in fact it made him doubt all the more. But the fox found himself still walking towards Éleos who now had his hands raised in the air, pulling some unknown entity. "You give me the plant, I give you the device. You have to give it to me… willingly." That last part made Éleos' voice sound raspy.

Tails could not lose Cosmo again, he was so close to her. And now Éleos was making a trade? A million blue flags went up, but Tails ignored them. He looked at the growing seed. It meant nothing to him, he realized, now that he had a chance to save Cosmo. He told the stranger, "Fine. It… is yours." Tails handed the minted stranger the pot, and in turn, the stranger did not look at anything but the plant, and gave the device over to Tails. He apparently was done waving his arms around too.

Éleos the minted stranger seemed transfixed on the plant. He admired it with awe. His entire focus was the plant, and oh how much pleasure it gave him to finally have it. He looked over at the confused two and said, "Remember, one use, and I take it away." He smiled devilishly and the minted stranger disappeared.

* * *

"Sonic! Sonic!" The little black robot came flying on and around and all over his house. He noticed a big black man was guarding the entrance, he did not mess with him, even though he really wanted to. But he did anyway and pulled a screen from his pack. "Wanna see something cool mister?"

"No! No one is showing anyone anything." Sonic barged out of his house, limping.

"Oh good it's you! The doctor would like to see you Sonic! Or else!" Bokkun yelled unnecessarily.

"I'll go."


	27. Chapter 26: The Fall Of Animal Kind

**Chapter 26**

**The Fall Of Animal Kind**

"Here goes everything." Tails switched the device waiting, for something, anything. He switched it again. Checked the machine, the light was blue and not red. It should have worked. He checked the wires. He checked inside, he saw something was lodged inside. He tried again, and again, and ten and twenty more times.

"Tails. Why _are_ we here?" Cream was worried something was terribly wrong, obviously there was, but she had not seen that look on Tails since they lost Cosmo.

"No! NO! This can't be happening! Not again!" Tails yelled, kicked, screamed, and threw the machine across the cabin, hitting the massive window. "To hell with you Éleos!"

"Tails! You tell me this instant, what's going on?" Cream hit his arm making him yowl in pain.

"Ow! No Cream you don't understand!" Tails yelled at her.

"You're right I don't! I never understand, people always have to explain things to me! I'm sorry I'm not smart like you, you big jerk!" Cream lost it. "You think I like not knowing things all the time? I have to take crap from all of you and shut my mouth at the same time!" Cream began to tear up, "I hate you Tails." Even though part of her did not mean it, the whisper was still heard, and Cream was in some way growing up.

Tails wasn't about to let that go. "Fine! Who needs you anyway?! I can take care of myself thanks for asking!" He yelled sarcastically, "And the next time you want to see me, you can just forget it! To hell with you too! To hell with all of you!" Tails had taken advantage of Cream's feelings for him, for a moment. And that was what made her break down again, on the Typhoon. And she took it, and lay her knees on the cold floor of the cabin, defenseless, crying, and defeated. And then Tails too lay on the cold floor, regretting everything, the trip, renouncing his love, hating his friend.

They both lay, and when Tails stopped his mumbling, and Cream's gasps became less erratic, he finally looked at her, guilty. He hated himself all over again. The trip was a mistake to him, everything, his life, it had no more meaning to him. And he kept telling himself those things. What more could he lose? He did not want to lose Cream. He loved Cream, but what he had just done to her had contradicted that brotherly love.

"Cream?" He asked silently. He saw she was curled up, her head was between her legs. "Cream I'm so-"He tried touching her but she threw his hand away. _I deserve that, _he thought. "Cream I didn't mean what I said. I was just mad. I should have told you why we came here in the first place, what the seed was and what it meant to me."

"Ya think?" Cream blurted.

"I never meant for this. I just wanted to bring her back. Cosmo I mean." Tails started.

"What? This… this is about her? Tails… she, she's dead." Cream reminded him.

"I know!" He noticed he had snapped. "I'm sorry. Let me start from the beginning."

Cream did not look up at him.

Tails began, "When she… passed… I went outside to look for her, I didn't believe it myself. Sonic approached me and he gave me the seed. It was what remained of her. And that was all I had to remember her by. Don't you see? I- I thought I could get her back, I thought I could bring her back with the seed. I know how it sounds. I sound insane! Not a day goes by that I don't think that about myself. But it was all I had. All I had of her. And now… she's gone. She's gone forever."

Cream did not want to react or respond to his story, perhaps it was the fourth or fifth jab in her heart. She had stopped counting because it was so many and so painful. But she did say, "What about your machine? I- I found it, and I put a little part of the Master Emerald inside."

"Huh. You found my notes?" Tails laughed, he didn't think the Master Emerald would accept the machine. Or the other way around. "Perfect Autarky… what a joke. You saw it yourself, it doesn't work."

Cream still had not looked up. There was a lull in the conversation making both him and her feel uneasy about they had said to each other.

"Cream, don't think I haven't thought about it." Tails snuck beside her and grabbed her hand.

"Thought about what?" Cream felt intrigued, she did not look up, but there was a glimmer of hope.

"You know. I uh. I mean. About you, and, and about me." Tails interrupted himself, still holding her hand. She looked up, and she couldn't help but smile and wonder. Tails was being honest.

"Really?" Cream asked with longing.

"Yeah but, I just, I just need to get over… Cosmo." Tails assured her.

Dark energy surged from the exact spot Tails had switched on the machine. The air yowled with intensity, the two on the ground feared the scene and what it might bring. It was too bright to look at the dark energy so they covered their gaze.

And out from that spot came a little green girl, the same as she left them. Bare as the day she was born, Cosmo was dropped suddenly hitting the ground hard. Cosmo was unconscious and the fox and the rabbit looked at each other and at Cosmo in wonderment.

"Buh! Uh! Cream! UH! Get her a t-towel or something!" Tails held the green girl. And quickly the rabbit went to fetch for a towel.

* * *

"Well, well. We meet again. Sonic the-always-late hedgehog." Eggman sneered at his rival. His command center was purposefully lit so he and the hedgehog were the only ones to be seen.

"What… do you want egghead?" Sonic needed the support of Decoe and Bocoe to stay on his feet.

"Doctor I think Sonic needs a lie down." Decoe said.

"Yeah Doctor, he doesn't look too good." Said Bocoe.

Eggman had no clever remark for Sonic's predicament, he only stroked his hairless chin. "I need a favor of you Sonic."

"Well, this is new… Eggman." Sonic struggled to keep himself up.

"You're uncle, Sir Charles, has something I need. We have worked together in the past, all I'm asking is work with your uncle. So I need you to put the good word in for me." Eggman had to have something up his sleeve, but Sonic couldn't figure it out. His request was strange, which should have had more blue flags lit up.

"I don- I don't-"Sonic collapsed.

* * *

Cream retrieved a towel and they put it on the poor green, unconscious Cosmo. Tails then carried her to the medical wing. He set her down how she was before, in the same spot she had been. They saw she began to wake, but she also began to tremble violently. Tails comforted her as best as he could, feeling up her arms to make her feel warmer. Cream also did so by feeling up her hands. Cosmo opened her eyes violently and extended her arms wildly.

"Where?! Where am I?" She asked.

"Cosmo! Cosmo you're awake!" Tails exclaimed.

"What's going on? Who's grabbing me? Why are you grabbing me?" Cosmo asked.

"Cosmo It's me Tails! Cosmo! Cosmo?!" Tails felt ecstatic.

Tails put his hands in front of her face, it seemed as if she did not see it. "Cosmo?" He asked again.

"Please, someone, anyone, please speak to me! I'm so scared!" Cosmo yelled again.

"Cosmo I'm right here!" Tails tried again. But the green girl did not hear or see him. "Cosmo?" He yelled her name over and over again, until finally she turned her head.

"Tails? Tails is that you? Oh Tails, speak to me please!" Cosmo was relieved to finally hear someone she knew.

"Yes it's me! It's Tails. I'm here, I'm here with you, and, and Cream is here too!" Tails explained.

"Cream? Cream is here? Cream, where? Why, can I not see?" Cosmo motioned for Cream and the rabbit took the girl's hand.

"I'm here Cosmo." Cream said softly with tears in her eyes.

And for a while the three held each other, wailing and sobbing. But Cream was doing so with more reasons than Tails was.

The minted stranger had returned, and he smiled at his clever designs. He picked up the machine and left again.


	28. Chapter 27: Black Doom

**Chapter 27**

**Black Doom**

Éleos floated in the coldness of space, he could see all of Mobius. With him he carried the seed. He had modified it to his liking. And now the seed didn't glow with whites and greens and yellows but with reds, and it felt and looked like a stone. He held it close to him, it mattered to him more than anything, perhaps even more than his counterpart. His gaze was still transfixed on it, he would not let anything harm it.

"The Undying has awakened." The minted stranger spoke sternly. And just as he had heard the other two say it and come, he heard Éleos say it and came.

The Devourer made a stunning entrance, being pulled from space to see the minted stranger. He spoke loudly and with a low, raspy, demanding voice, "Everlasting be His reign." The Devourer was a horned being, with long robes. He had not legs but strong arms with only three fingers on each hand. And each with long black fingernails. He had three glowing, golden eyes, and one eye stood atop the two. The chains around his person were adorned with trinkets of an eclipse, of a sun, and seven beads, and then two beads and then nine pieces of metal. He spoke again, full of hatred, "You still say it, and yet you do not believe it."

"It was to get your attention, and my plan worked perfectly. They said it and you came. Although, they are on to you." Éleos moved his hands around with great intensity. The creature that had come looked him over, feeling betrayed.

"Mobius was promised to me, and you squander your gifts with petty wars and conflicts." The Devourer started.

The Devourer continued. "You yourself did not make a graceful entrance. I know what you have done with your precious time, I have eyes everywhere. I am not impressed. You are too sloppy. They will find you. You know nothing of the Master's plan." The horned being chuckled, he mocked Éleos.

"I TOLD YOU I KILLED THE OLD GOD! He is dead! I saw him die before me, and I watched and waited until he lost his last breath!" Part of Éleos' figure turned a darker shade, blue and purple and black. His eyes began to glow a brighter green, almost a neon green.

"And what of the girl you mate with? Did you kill her too?" The Devourer struck a nerve and sent Éleos into a fit of rage. "Of course not, but I'm sure you enjoyed it. Seeing someone else do the dirty work for you. And that is what you are all about isn't it? You are not fit to be with us, you never were. Remember, everyone has a master… even _you_." The Devourer left Éleos to sulk and rage on his own.

"Doom! DOOM! ANSWER ME!" Éleos cried. "No matter! I still have this." He touched his red stone, and fiddled and played with it vigorously. "My insurance policy."


	29. Chapter 28: The Return Of The Fallen

**Chapter 28**

**The Return Of The Fallen**

You could have imagined how much joy and relief Vanilla felt when Vector told her he had seen the Typhoon docking. Knuckles, Rouge, Helen, Vanilla, Vector, Rimas and Cheese gathered once more in Vanilla's house, and to receive Tails and Cream.

"Sonic went to see Doctor Eggman, I have not seen him since." Rimas clarified.

"Maybe he's captured him." Helen thought.

"No, no. if I know Sonic, he doesn't just get captured." Added Knuckles

"But do you see how he's been lately? He wouldn't stand a chance against Eggie." Rouge commented.

"Perhaps." Knuckles admitted.

Vector started. "I think, what's important now, is that Tails is back, and we have to help him grieve. He's obviously left off world because of Cosmo. I just don't know why he would take Cream without telling anybody."

"So this is an intervention then?" Vanilla tried to clarify.

"Why not? We thought Tails could handle it, it's clear he needs help." Vector said. "Trust me dis will work. I'm a detective by night, and a psychologist by day." He reached for his small glasses.

"I think it's important that we stay positive for him." Helen added.

"Oh hey Helen, I forgot you were with us." Vector admitted.

They all sat around the living room waiting for Tails or Cream to come knocking. When there came a knock Vanilla answered, to her surprise it was Queen Sally.

When she let Sally in the queen explained, "I left with Sonic, but when we arrived Sonic fainted. He's in the care of Doctor Eggman now. I never knew he would be such a delight, you make him out to seem like he's some sort of a villain." Sally joked somewhat.

"Are you serious?"

"Boo."

"I know Eggman likes to break the rules, but he's helping his so called nemesis as we speak." Sally commented.

There was another knock on the door, it was one of Hamlin's assistants.

"What does he want now?" Sally asked.

"Another ruling your grace."

"Fine. I'll be there shortly." Sally left with Fiona and Mina.

Another knock, it was Bokkun, "Hi guys! Eggman says Sonic's Okay and that he didn't capture him or nothing. So don't blame him!"

"We know." In unison.

"Sheesh, tough crowd." Bokkun left in a hurry, he forgot he needed to leave a screen. He most likely noticed Rouge was in the room and did not want to stay there any longer with her.

And another knock, this time it was Tails, Cream, and Cosmo. Tails was helping Cosmo since she still could not see. Cream ran inside to her mother. There were sudden gasps, and silence. The same thought ran across everyone, but still silence. They gazed in disbelief at their fallen comrade Cosmo.

Only Vanilla looked back to her daughter and spoke to her, "Do you realize what you put me through Cream?! I thought- Cream I love you but you have lost my trust."

"I know mother." Cream cried.

"You're grounded, go to your room." Vanilla rebuked and Cream did as she was told, following her was Cheese.

"I know it's hard to believe guys, but it is her. It's Cosmo." Tails explained.

"I'm sorry, is something wrong with me? Tails you never mentioned something was wrong with me." Cosmo cried out. Seeing as to the apparition could indeed talk, the group huddled around her, greeting her and wondering how this was possible. Only Rimas and Helen felt left out.

* * *

Knuckles approached Tails as they all caught up and had drinks and food. "Was Éleos with you Tails?"

"Éleos?" Tails asked. "Well, no." Tails was not sure why he lied, but the universe seemed to like it. And Knuckles left him alone and did not ask about his book.

"How did you do it?" Vector asked Tails.

"That's not important. She's back. That is important." Tails saw Cosmo, she was sitting down talking to Helen, without sight. Tails wondered if he could have done something different to prevent that. "By the way, where is Sonic?"

"He's with Eggman. Apparently he's sick or something." Vector told him and left Tails to think.

_Eggman! That's it!_ Tails thought. He looked back at Cosmo, his love. He needed a moment with her.


	30. Chapter 29: The One That Might Have Been

**Chapter 29**

**The One That Might Have Been**

A few weeks had passed and Tails had made it his calling in life to take care of any of Cosmo's needs. Tails had given his old house to Helen and Cosmo, while he lived with Rimas. Every day of his life he would go and see her, he would get her out of bed, help her make her bed. He would help her brush her teeth, comb her hair, bring her downstairs, make her breakfast, watch her eat, play a game or two, take long walks with her, visit the castle, visit the nearby towns, even visit with everyone else, go back home, make her lunch, make her dinner, listen to his TransAudio together, read a book, take her back to bed, and repeat the next day.

Tails planned a date to go see Eggman about Cosmo's sight, perhaps he could help him whith that. It was odd that Sonic still was not back. He needed to do that plus figure out a way to send Helen back and all the while doing so trying to reach out to Cream. He had not seen her since they arrived and he knew she was avoiding him.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Tails asked her, they both were sitting on a couch. And Helen was with Cream, or Rimas, Tails did not pay attention to where she was going. He was glad he had some more alone time with Cosmo.

"I guess it's alright." Cosmo answered. She was hiding something. Perhaps her true feelings on the matter.

"Aren't you at least a bit interested on how I got you back?" Tails questioned if she even wanted to be back.

"Tails, I know what you are thinking. I'm glad you did what you did. I just can't remember, that is what worries me, not my sight, but that." Cosmo mentioned.

"What do you mean sweetie?" Tails asked.

"Why do you do that?" Cosmo changed the subject, "Why do you call me that?"

"Do you not like it? I won't… sorry." Tails responded sadly.

"No, Tails. I'm sorry, I mean, why are you doing this?" The girl also sounded saddened. "Why are you taking care of me? After all of this, why would you even want to be with me?"

"Cosmo… what are you talking about? Of course I want to be with you. There wasn't a moment that went by that I didn't want that. Do you remember what I told you?" He pulled her face towards him. "That night, in storage. Cosmo that was me, well, me from the future, or the past. Well my past's future. That will never change. I will always love you. Always."

Cosmo was confused, "What? Your past's future? So when you told me, that wasn't… uh… the Tails of my time?"

"Exactly." Tails pulled her closer.

"How did you go back in time?" She asked.

"Well, I had help. There was a hedgehog name Éleos." Tails began.

"Éleos?" She asked.

"Yes." Tails waited for her to respond.

"I-I know him. He was the one who told me how to get to Mobius in the first place." She said.

"What?" Tails asked, "Why did he not tell me he knew you?"

"I don't know. But he was more than helpful." She commented.

"Well he helped me go back but I couldn't find what I was looking for. Cream actually found it and we used that machine to get you back." Tails remembered. "I was a fool to think that you could actually come back from a seed."

Cosmo stopped to think. "Seed?"

"Oh, yeah. When you, well, when you died, Sonic only found a seed. It was all we found of you. I kept it and started to grow it. It was beautiful." Tails noted.

The fox noticed Cosmo began to blush and tear up. He quickly hugged her and asked, "What's the matter Cosmo?" She began to tremble.

Still trembling and stuttering over herself she started, "Tails- I, I- we, a seed?" She exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, baby. Will you tell me what's wrong?" Tails began to worry.

Cosmo covered her mouth and looked away embarrassed. Her glazed eyes still had tears. She whispered, "That seed, is ours."

Tails thought about her comment for a moment, he did not know what she could mean by that.

"Please Tails, don't be mad at me, I swear I- didn't know, but I knew, and I didn't, couldn't stop myself. I, please don't hate me!" She exclaimed while exasperated.

"Whoa, Cosmo, I don't hate you. Please, explain." Tails begged.

Cosmo reconstituted herself, still trembling she answered, "I once heard my sisters talk about, well, mating." She blushed uncontrollably, as did Tails-still out of the loop. "We being the last of our kind, I guess they talked about it a lot. They- they said it happened, through you, by, uh, I don't know um, like a force or something. I mean, they told me that's how I was born too, through a seed."

"Wait, what?" Tails asked, his voice sounded brusquer than he wanted it to be.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have returned my feelings. I … part of me knew. Please, don't- don't leave me because of this." Cosmo sounded exasperated again.

"Cosmo, are you saying… we had a child?" Tails asked.

"Yes." She softly answered, feeling ashamed.

"Well… that's great. No that's wonderful." Tails answered, but she could not see that he was more worried than ever.

"Really? You're not mad at me? Oh Tails, I do love you!" Cosmo blurted. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, I'm so happy, and nervous. Am I really ready to be a mother? I don't know, but I'll have to try, and, and, I just love you so much!" She hugged him. He still did not believe that they actually had a child together, somehow. "But… Tails, why have you not shown me the seed?" She blushed again.

Tails weighed his options. He wanted to say he gave it up for her. But he had just given up his child. How could he live with himself now? He was too shocked to say much, he only held his mouth with his hands. He began to tear up.

"Tails? Aren't you happy?" She asked.

"Cosmo," his voice cracked, "I-I don-."

"Tails? What is it?" She asked again.

"Cosmo, I… I gave up the seed… to get you back." Tails confessed, his heart burned with incredible guilt.

"What?"

"Cosmo you have to understand. I had to. I had to get you back. I didn't know! I didn't know we had a child! How could I have known?" Tails snapped.

Cosmo began to cry again, only this time not with joy.

"Cosmo." Tails reached for her, but in turn she hit him. "Cosmo?"

"No, no. No! This isn't happening!" She cried out.

"Cosmo… I had to." Tails said.

"Leave me! Leave me alone! I don't want to see you! Go!" She wailed louder and louder, tears streamed endlessly from her eyes, and she lowered her body, hitting her head on the couch, defeated.

Tails reluctantly left, regretting his mistakes. And cursing the minted stranger. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you!"


	31. Chapter 30: Another Time, Another Place

**Chapter 30**

**Another Time, Another Place**

A black hedgehog stood atop a hill overlooking Thumbnut and other towns and villages. He knew of the evil that had come, and he would have to kill her if it came to it. "What have you done?" Shadow asked, to no one in particular.

* * *

Sally Acorn had finished her meeting and had returned to the dungeon. She had had enough of this. She needed to know the truth, all of it. "Tell me where it is! Tell me where Caliburn is! And the crown!" She knelt to his eye level, she held the rusted bars. "Father? Please."

"Sally…" The Mad King Maximilian had finally spoken to her, for the first time in eight years. "You don't realize… what I did… I killed them all… for you."

* * *

Somewhere far away, a white hedgehog cursed himself, the ground he stood on, and all his family. He never quite felt the sting of defeat like he did then. He was in an abandoned shop of some kind. He sat in the quiet place, with no one with him. He had cried and mourned enough. He looked at the Sol Emeralds his companion had once guarded. "Blaze… I swear, I will avenge your death. I swear it."

* * *

In another far away land, there was a building, a laboratory. The light outside was failing, but it shone the letters and word: L-ht Labs. Inside this building was the doctor. He did not want to do it. But he knew he had an obligation, to someone he cared for very much.

Quickly but softly concentrated matter appeared from within the lab. And out came a stranger, with a tint of mint color to him. He held something in his hand, a red stone. And in the other hand he had a device. "Oh doctor… I've got something for you."


	32. Epilogue: By A Technicality

**Epilogue**

**By A Technicality**

The Beacon of Reality was breached, and demons of all sorts had overrun the entirety of the place. They killed as they saw fit, and the Titans battled, trying to stay alive. Éleos ran from the temple searching for his love. Luckily he had found her, she was hiding close to a crumbled building. He sped to her, trying to avoid debris and other beings.

"You're safe!" He yelled to Filanthropia.

"What in hells is happening?" She screamed.

"I did it Himerope, I finally did it! Now we don't have to run away. Or we can, if you want to, it doesn't matter!" Éleos was more than joyful, but she did not share in his enthusiasm.

"What did you do?!" She asked.

"I killed him Himerope! I killed the Old God! He's dead! And the Fallen One has returned just in time, he killed his brother Aggramar I saw it! Don't you see how lucky we are?" Éleos exclaimed.

Himerope could not believe her ears but she took his hand and they kissed. But they stopped abruptly, to see the person that had been stalking them. There was a hooded figure, feet away from them. Éleos could not believe it, but he did not move and neither did Himerope. Until he whispered, "The Inventor."

At that the hooded figure unsheathed Caliburn and pointed it at them. Something was glowing on the head of the hooded figure- a crown. But before Éleos could react, Caliburn shot out light energy and hit Himerope, making her fall to the ground.

"NO!" Éleos yelled, he held his dying love. "Don't! Don't you die! You can't!"

"You know… where I'll be." She began and her eyes glazed, "Mephiles." And she was dead.

When Mephiles saw her pass, he changed his demeanor and his color. He no longer was a mint color but a black and purple color. Spikes grew from each of his appendages and he directed to the hooded figure. "YOU! Inventor! What you did to mine, I will do to yours! I swear it!" He shot dark energy at the figure while it shot light energy. The figure hit Mephiles on his side, making him wail and pull himself away with a port. The figure was also shot near its chest but was able to block it with Caliburn.

* * *

Later the hooded figure met with Soferia and Amel in the outskirts of the city. Amel was hyperventilating while Soferia tried to calm him down. They noticed the figure coming at them, so they prepared for an attack.

"Wait! It's me, the Inventor!" The figure yelled, sheathing Caliburn and pulling back its cloak. Two long ears flopped from the hood. And a fully grown Cream took a deep breath.

**End of Book 1 of the Auspice Sequence**


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